End of the Worlds
by Elessar Nett
Summary: Uberfic - the first four seasons occur mostly the same way. But instead of 20th century Earth, they occur on 22nd millennium Caprica. Now the scoobies face a manmade apocalypse even the Slayer can't stop.
1. Buffy's Story I

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.  
-Vampyr 4:1-2

_Three and a half years ago_

"Buffy Summer, sophomore. Late of Hameri High in Saloniki. Interesting record, quite a career," said the heavy-set, yet generally affable man in front of her. He tore the paper up once, and then again.

"Welcome to Sunnydale! A clean slate, Buffy, that's what you get here. What's past is past. We're not interested in what it says on a piece of paper, even if it says," he slowed, looking down at the paper he'd just torn, eyes widening, "whoa."

"Mr. Flutie," Buffy started

"All the kids here are free to call me Bob."

"Bob,"

"But they don't," he said, as he began to tape together the sheet.

"I know my transcripts are a little," she stopped, searching for the right word, "colorful."

"Hey," the principal said, continuing his work, "we're not caring about that. Do you think, uh, 'colorful' is the right word? Not, uh, dismal?"

"Oh, sorry!"

"That's okay," the other girl said, walking away, leaving Buffy to clean up the mess resulting from their collision. After all, annoyingly, she had been the only one to lose anything. Fortunately, now, a guy came and started helping her to pick up.

"Can I have you?" he asked, confusing Buffy for a second, before he amended, "Duh, sorry. Can I _help_ you?"

"Thanks," Buffy said, nodding her head slightly.

"I don't know you, do I?" he asked, in good humor. Buffy looked up at the guy, smiling, as she responded,

"Uh, no. I'm Buffy. Buffy Summer, I'm new."

"Xander," the guy said simply, "uh, is me. Xander Harra. Hi."

"Um, thanks," Buffy said, again, as her mouth went down, and she looked awkwardly at him as they completed the cleanup.

"Well, uh," he said, "maybe I'll see you around. Maybe at school, since we, both," he stammered a bit as he finished, "go there."

"Great!" Buffy said, looking back and forth and, trying to escape the extreme awkwardness, darted up the corridor.

"Hello?" Buffy asked to the seemingly empty library. It was dark, and large, with a disturbing stillness filling the room. It was creepier than any library, high school or public, had any right to be.

"Is anybody here?" She wandered a little into the library, looking down at the desk. She shuddered a little when she saw a newspaper clipping on the desk - missing children.

There was a sudden tap on her shoulder, and she spun around, combat-ready. When she saw it was nothing to be scared of - just a tweed-clad, glasses wearing librarian, she quickly covered it up with a healthy dose of Valley Girl.

"Oooh!" Buffy said, "Anybody's here."

"Can I help you?" he asked

"I was looking for some, well, books. I'm new."

"Miss Summer?" he asked, a questioning vise on his face

"Good call!" Buffy said, brightly, "Guess I'm the only new kid, huh?"

"I'm Mr. Giles," he said, as though that somehow said volumes about him. A clipped, Tauron accent betrayed his foreign origin. He continued, "The librarian. I was told you were coming."

"Great!" Buffy said, "So, uh," she said, looking down at the piece of paper she'd written down the list on, "I'm gonna need 'Perspectives on Pre-Cylon-'"

"I know what you're after!" Giles interrupted. Grinning, he pulled out a large, old book from under the shelf, dropping it onto the desk. Buffy looked down in shock at the gold-leafed text:

VAMPYR

She was in Sunnydale. It was a nice place. She wouldn't have to- no, she'd left that in Saloniki. She stumbled over her words as she responded,

"Th-that's not what I'm looking for."

"Oh," he trailed off, before continuing, "are you sure?"

"I'm _way_ sure."

Confused, Giles picked up the book, while looking down at it, "My mistake," he said, putting the book back behind the desk, "So, what is it you said," he continued, looking up, seeing only a flash of blonde hair forcing the library door open and rushing out.

"Uh, hi!" Buffy said, approaching the girl she needed, "Willow, right?"

"Uh, why?" she asked, a little intimidated, before her mind seemed to reconnect. "I-I mean, hi! Willow Canaan. Uh, did you want me to move?"

"Why don't we start with, 'Hi, I'm Buffy Summer', and then let's segue directly into me asking you for a favor." Buffy smiled, sitting down next to Willow, "It doesn't involve moving, but it does involve hanging out with me for a while."

Willow's face contorted a little, in confusion, "But aren't you hanging out with Cordelia?"

"I can't do both?"

"Not legally," Willow responded, matter-of-factly.

Buffy exhaled, and spoke, "Look, I really wanna get by here, new school, and," she stopped for a second, before continuing, trying to explain, "Cordelia's been really nice," she said, only trailing off as she remembered what had happened earlier, "to me, anyway," she awkwardly said, and, then, forcing the words out, "but, um, I kinda have this burning desire not to flunk all my classes, and I heard a rumor that you were the person to talk to if I wanted to get caught up."

"Oh," Willow said, smiling as her face brightened, "I could _totally_ help you out! Uh, if you have sixth period free we could meet in the library."

"Or not." Buffy frowned a little, "Or we could meet someplace quieter," only after saying it did she realize the absurdity of the statement, "uh, louder. Uh, that place just kinda gives me the wiggins."

"Oh, it has that effect on most kids. I love it, though, it's a great collection and the new librarian is really cool."

"He's new?" Buffy asked, only a little surprised. Of course, whoever that Council was had sent him. She was sure of it. Why couldn't she just _live her life_? Dawn was annoying enough without a bunch of fashion-deprived stuffy Taurons trying to add to it!

"Yeah, he just started," Willow said, "He was a curator at some Tauron museum or, or _the_ Tauron Museum, I'm not sure. But he knows everything and he brought all these historical volumes and biographies and am I the single dullest person alive?"

"Not at all," Buffy said, her smile returning widely.

"Okay, what's the sitch?" Buffy said, storming into the library to confront the librarian.

"Sorry?" Mr. Giles said, looking up, confused at Buffy.

"You heard about the dead guy, right? The dead guy in the locker?"

"Yes," he said, not really surprised that she was bringing it up.

"'Cause it's the weirdest thing. He's got two little, little holes in his neck, and all his blood's been drained." Buffy stopped for effect, dramatically continuing a few seconds later, "Isn't that bizarre? Aren't you just going, 'OOOOH!'?"

"I was afraid of this," Giles said, rising to pick up several books.

"Well _I _wasn't!" Buffy asserted, "It's my first day! I was afraid that I was gonna be behind in all my classes, that I wouldn't make any friends, that I'd be taken for a Sagittaron, that I would have last month's hair! I didn't think there'd be _vampires_ on campus!" She stopped, gathering herself, "And I don't care."

"Then why are you here?" Giles asked, poignantly.

Buffy was surprised at his question - and, honestly, didn't know the answer herself. "To tell you that. That I don't care. Which I don't. And have told you so. So, bye!"

She turned away and began to leave the library, but was turned back by his question, "Is he, w-will he rise again?"

"Who?" she said, a little confused

"The boy?"

"No," she said, grimacing, "He's just dead."

"Can you be sure?"

"To make you a vampire they have to suck your blood. And then you have to suck their blood. It's like a whole big sucking thing. Mostly, they're just going to kill you. Why am I still talking to you?"

"You really have no idea what's going on, do you? You think it's a coincidence, your being here? That boy was just the beginning."

"Oh, why can't you people just _leave me alone_?"

"Because you are the Slayer. Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the worlds, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt-"

Buffy interrupted, continuing, "With the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil, blah, blah, blah. I've heard it, okay?"

"I really don't understand this attitude," Giles said, looking down at her, "Y-you've accepted your duty, y-you've slain vampires before."

"Yeah, and I've both been there and done that," Buffy declared, "and I'm moving on."

"What do you know about this town?" Giles asked, walking pointedly into the librarian's office.

"It's two hours from a good department store?"

"Dig a bit into the history of this place," Giles said, coming back from the other room, "You'll find a steady stream of fairly odd occurrences. Now, I believe this whole area is a center of mystical energy, that, that things gravitate toward it that-that you might not find elsewhere.

"Like vampires," Buffy said.

"Like zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed, but told yourself couldn't be by light of day. They're all real!"

"Ah, heh," the man said. The creep had been following her for a few blocks, and now she'd managed to get the jump, as it were, on him, kicking him down and under her. "Is there a problem, ma'am?"

"Yeah, there's a problem," Buffy said, her attitude (partly, the Slayer, a little voice in her head said, though she ignored it) in full gear, "why are you following me?"

"I know what you're thinking," he said, almost sneering, "Don't worry, I don't bite."

Buffy let off, letting him up. He stood up, dusted himself off, but Buffy stayed prepared as he continued, "Truth is, I thought you'd be taller, or bigger muscles and all that. You're pretty spry, though."

"What do you want?"

"The same thing you do."

"Okay. What do _I_ want?"

"To kill them. To kill them all."

"Sorry, that's incorrect." Buffy plastered her most obviously false smile on her face, "But you do get this lovely watch and a year's supply of shoe polish. What I want is to be left alone!"

Buffy began to walk away, but she was called back to attention, "Do you really think that's an option anymore? You're standing at the Mouth of Hell. And it's about to open."

She stopped, looking at him wide-eyed. He reached into his jacket, pulling out a small box, "Don't turn your back on this," he said, tossing it to her, "You've gotta be ready."

"What for?"

"For the Harvest," he said, beginning to leave.

"Who are you?"

"Let's just say, I'm a friend."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want a friend," Buffy retorted.

A slight Aerilon brogue slipped into his speech, now, as he responded, "Didn't say I was yours."

Buffy stared after him as he turned the corner, walking away. She opened the box, and her jaw dropped as she saw the silver ankh necklace within.

They were now all sitting in the library, after the vampire attack, as Giles began to lecture, "The universe is less orderly than you know. Contrary to popular mythology, it was not always ruled by the human race. For untold eons, demons ruled this reality. They made it their home, their-their hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for man to, to be formed on Kobol. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures,"

"And vampires," Buffy, succinctly, interrupted.

"Okay, this is where I have a problem," Xander said, "See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a _talk_ with vampires in it."

"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asked Xander, aptly

"No. No, those weren't vampires," Buffy said, sarcasm dripping from her voice, "those were just guys in thundering need of a facial! Or maybe they just had rabies. It could have been rabies. An-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light."

Xander gave her a look, as she continued, "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part."

"Oh," Willow said, "I-I need to sit down."

"You are sitting down," Buffy replied.

"Oh." Willow continued to look directly forward, "Good for me."

"And that would be a what?" Xander asked, having gotten through several other questions

"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer," Giles stated matter-of-factly. "One girl in all the worlds, a Chosen One,"

Now Buffy interrupted, "He loves doing this part."

Giles gave a dirty look, continuing "Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires. Buffy is the Slayer. Don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need."

"Except for one thing," Xander responded, "how do you kill them?"

"_You_ don't," Buffy said, rather simply, "_I_ do."

"Well, Jesse's my-"

Buffy interrupted, "Jesse is _my_ responsibility. I let him get taken."

"That's not true," Xander protested

"If you hadn't shown up," Willow said, "they would have taken us, too. Does anybody mind if I pass out?"

"Breathe," Buffy said, patting Willow on the shoulder.

"Breathe." Willow now began to do as Buffy said.

"Breathe," Buffy repeated.

"Again, how do we kill them?" Xander said

Buffy sighed, "Fine. An ankh or holy water will slow them down, a stake through the heart or beheading will kill them."

"Or fire," Giles said, while he reached for a book.

"Or fire," Buffy repeated.

"What exactly were you expecting?" Buffy asked

"I don't know, something," Xander responded simply, "I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly."

"People have a tendency to rationalize what they can," Giles said, "and forget what they can't."

"Believe me, I've seen it happen," Buffy said.

"Well, I'll never forget it," Willow said, "none of it."

"Good!" Giles said, "Next time, you'll be prepared."

"Next time?" Xander asked, confused.

"Next time is why?" Willow asked, at the same time.

"We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the Mouth of Hell," Giles said, "That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning."

"More vampires?" Willow asked

"Not just vampires," Giles said, "The next threat we face may be something quite different."

"I can hardly wait!" Buffy said, with false glee in reams.

"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here," Giles said, "We may, in fact, stand between the worlds and their total destruction."

"Well, I gotta look on the bright side," Buffy said, "Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!"

"Oh, yeah, that's a plan," Xander said, as he, Buffy and Willow began to walk away from the librarian, "'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths."

"Maybe you could blow something up," Willow said brightly, "They're really strict about that."

"I was thinking a more subtle approach," Buffy responded, "you know? Like excessive not studying."

Giles turned away from the teenagers, and, as he walked back to the library, he said to no one in particular,

"The Colonies are doomed."

_Present Day_

The darkness surrounded the lonely, outdated raptor as it floated through space, engines off. They floated, using no power except the most basic to run the air and the wireless.

"Krypter, krypter, krypter," Buffy spoke into the wireless, trying to keep her voice calm, "this is a civilian-flown raptor in high orbit over Saloniki Valley on Caprica. I need medical assistance and direction to any ship with resources. To any Colonial ship, krypter, krypter, krypter."

As no response was forthcoming, Buffy hit the wireless in anger, damaging the console with her excessive Slayer-strength. She looked down at what she'd done, and swore at it, "Godsdammit!"

She examined it quickly, and came to the fortunate conclusion there was nothing but superficial damage, leaned back. _Well, thank the gods that Slayer instincts include flying raptors. Why can't it include driving cars? Really. I can fly a raptor out of an apocalypse, but I can't drive half-way across Sunnydale. What kind of Slayer instincts are those?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a feminine voice, "Buffy?"

Buffy looked back to the ECO chair in the back, where her sister sat, cradling herself in her own arms, as she continued, "I-I'm-I'm."

"It'll be okay, Dawn," Buffy tried to reassure her sister, though she was clearly not in a mood to be reassured.

"Okay?" Dawn said, "_OKAY?_ Someone just _NUKED_ Sunnydale. _CYLONS_ nuked Caprica! Saloniki's gone and so is," Dawn trailed off, "gods."

"Dawn, Dawn, listen to me," Buffy said, having come to the back of the raptor, and grabbing hold of Dawn's hand and bringing them to face level, "see this?" she said, indicating a healing sword cut on her own hand, "his is Summer blood. Summer blood is strong. It's Libran blood. Royal blood. Our ancestors were the warriors of Kobol. Whatever happens, our blood is the same. We'll survive. It's what we do."

"But, Buffy," Dawn said, tears forming in the 16-year old's eyes, "it was so, so. Gods." Dawn trailed off a little, as she continued, "Mom, Riley, Spike-"

"Shh!" Buffy said, hugging her sister, "it'll be okay! I promise. We'll figure this out. We've lived through enough apocalypses already, we'll make it through this one. Together. Now, I have to check on Giles. Is that okay?"

Dawn nodded, tears still streaming down her face. "Buffy?" came a voice from the floor.

"Giles!" Buffy said, leaning down, "Are you alright?"

"Not particularly," he said, now opening his eyes and looking, trying to sit up a little "Where are we?"

"On the raptor, Giles. From the Initiative. Do you remember?"

"A little," Giles said, adjusting himself, "Where's Riley?"

"A vamp. We had to run, Giles. It's just us and Dawnie."

"My gods," Giles said, leaning back again and blinking. He looked, seeing where they were, "I hate space travel."

Dawn snorted in a modicum of laughter, ignoring the glares that turned on her from Buffy and Giles. They both softened as they remembered the tears still trickling from Dawn's eyes

Buffy turned to Giles, getting back (somewhat) to the point, "Thank the gods they put flight ability in with the Slayer reflexes, or we'd never have got off the ground."

"Indee-ah!" Giles said, hurting, trying to sit up

"Stay down, Giles. Rest is the only way to heal this."

Giles nodded, stopping his attempt to rise, as he continued "Anything on the wireless?"

"Not much," Buffy said. The Slayer had partly taken over, and no emotion showed on Buffy's face, "but I did hear confirmation that Caprica City got hit. So did Saloniki, and Sunnydale. It's not positive who did it, but all the smart money's on the reports of Cylons coming from around the Colonies. I heard something coming from the President, but couldn't make it out. It's been silent for a half an hour now."

"Gods!" exclaimed Giles.

"I know," Buffy said. She was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "I mean, what's the point?"

"What do you mean, Buffy?" Giles asked

"I've been saving the worlds since high school, Giles." Buffy spoke with resignation, "and now, at the end, it's not even demons."

Buffy looked out into the stars, and said, "I save them all from demons – thousands of Slayers in thousands of years save them all from demons every day. And then," Buffy trailed off for a moment, trying to control herself, "then the Colonies thank us by destroying themselves with Cylons. And it's not even apocalypse season."


	2. Willow's Story I

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity**

To all be open, on what you are – with intent evil or good. But secret, it must be kept, what it means – except as is judged, for the darkness battle.  
-Mysterium 12:19-20

_Earlier today_

Willow looked out the window at the slowly passing stars and space debris. She was still kinda tired from the time difference – why, oh, why, do the entire Colonies follow Caprica City standard time when, clearly, Saloniki, on the other side of Caprica, is clearly much better. This was plainly obvious to anyone with brains, Willow thought – after all, she had herself grown up in the Saloniki Valley and its time zone.

Tara was on the seat next to the window, asleep. Willow thought that was probably a good position. Asleep. Probably, she thought, the second-best position one could be in. And the best position certainly could not be done on a government-chartered spaceliner even in the best of conditions. Well, maybe in the bathroom, but that'd be kinda uncomfortable. Unfortunately, Willow, for the life of her, could not manage to fall asleep.

Willow, bored with the stars, now turned to look at the other passengers. Also, pretty boring. They were mostly reading, various books and newspapers. Almost all of them were various reporters, going off to the retirement of the famous Battlestar _Galactica_, a second-rate news story for second-rate reporters. The liner's passenger deck was only about a quarter full, Willow supposed. Maybe they'd be taking on more passengers on the way back.

Now, a woman Willow recognized, somehow, in the back of her mind, was coming back from the bathroom and trying to compose herself. She sat down alone, directly across the aisle from Willow. Willow looked out of the corner of her eye as the woman fidgeted for a few minutes – picking up her book, trying to read it, before setting it down again. Willow thought she was just a little restless, too.

Willow, curious, turned to her, and said, "Hi."

The woman was startled, turning to her, "Hello."

Willow grimaced slightly, "Sorry, I'm just a little restless. I'm Willow. Willow Canaan."

"Oh," the woman said, a bit of relief, "I'm Laura. Laura Roslin. Nice to meet you."

"_Oh!_" Willow said, "I know now. Sorry, I'm a bit of a political junkie. You're the Secretary of Education. I knew I remembered you from somewhere."

"Ah, I see. Well, it's good to meet you, Willow."

"Yeah, so," Willow trailed off for a few seconds, before coming up with a subject, "You did the organizing for the new museum?"

"I did," Laura said, a little more animated, but only a little. "I designed the guidebook, and I approved everything else for the museum. It was one of my ideas – they've been decommissioning the old _Columbias_ left and right, and no one thought to preserve one as a museum until I gave the idea to Bram. That is, the Secretary of-"

"Defense, yeah, I know. Bram Shiara. He's the highest person of mithraist descent in the federal government."

Laura raised her eyebrows at this. Willow quickly said, "Oh, I'm a mithrasary, too. Of mithraist descent that is. I haven't really ever been much of a follower of Mithraism, though my parents are, though I never really did believe in it. I mean, I always kinda found it to be restricting, but, to each his own, I guess. Sorry, I guess I'm being all babble-y, aren't I? I really do try to stop but I honestly don't notice I'm doing it until I've already been doing it a while so I guess I should, uh stop now."

Laura, instead of being bothered, smiled slightly at Willow, "It's alright. I used to do that, when I was in school."

"Ooh, how'd you stop? It'd be nice if I could figure out how to stop."

"I don't know," Laura said, going into a bit of introspection, "I guess I just kind of," she stopped for a second, before continuing, "grew out of it. Though, people giving me strange looks definitely helped it along."

"That'll never work. Tara loves it when I babble, and she'd just let me go on for hours if I didn't notice."

"Tara?" Laura asked, curiously.

"Oh, this lazy person, out like a light, next to me. My girlfriend. Uh, sorry, you're not Sagittaron or suravaist or anything, and find it offensive, are you?"

"Of course not," Laura smiled, "I'm really not much up for the gods."

"Hmm," Willow said, in more of an acknowledging way than especial approval or disapproval. "I'm a Wicce, myself. So's Tara. I'm an initiate, but she's been in it a lot longer."

Willow and Laura carried on their conversation for another half an hour before Laura returned to her book and Willow, finally, managed to go to sleep for a few hours, resting on her lover's shoulder.

_Present_

Willow held her lover in her arms as she twitched every few minutes in silence. Neither witch knew what was happening, or why, but whatever it was had affected Tara very deeply.

"Shh, shh. It's okay, baby. It's alright. Whatever's going on, it's probably just an apocalypse. Don't worry, Buffy deals with these things all the time. It'll be okay."

Tara remained silent as she silently leaned into Willow's embrace. Willow cradled her, just barely recognizing that Laura had stood, and walked up to the cockpit shortly after the captain's announcement. Willow looked around, and saw how everyone else in the ship was unsettled, at the very least. She was pretty sure no one else was feeling it the way she and her girlfriend were, but it was a safe bet that, whatever magic was being done could possibly even override Sunnydale Syndrome.

Tara was quiet, no words coming from her, as she looked out the window from Willow. Willow followed her gaze to the old viper flying escort alongside them. Willow smiled, and said, "See, look, Tara. There's Lee. Nothing will happen to us while Lee's flying escort for us. And Buffy and Giles and Xander can deal with whatever's hellmouthy causing this."

Willow looked up, when she heard the cockpit doors open again, and saw the Secretary of Education standing there, saying, "Excuse me, excuse me, I have an announcement."

Willow sat up, now, as did Tara. Tara had a few silent tears on her face, but otherwise looked the picture of normalcy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you all know I'm Laura Roslin, the Secretary of Education. The captain's received some news over the official Colonial and government channels, and it's important that you be kept in the loop. As we understand it, there's been an attack. We have reports of at least two dozen Cylon basestars throughout the System, and we have confirmed reports of bombings, possibly nuclear, on several worlds, including the colonies of Caprica, Picon, Aerilon and Tauron."

The blood drained from Willow's face as she heard the words "attack" and "Cylon". She only barely heard, now, the reports of attack on her homeworld. She muttered to herself, slipping into Mithrasarian, "Got im shmayim," as the rest of the passengers began to yell out loudly, demanding answers.

At word of the Cylons, however, a completely different effect had come down on her girlfriend. Tara's normally silent, peaceful eyes flashed in anger as she muttered about godsdamned Cylon bastards. It would have shocked Willow had Willow been in any position to consider Tara's words.

"Stop! Please, stop. Please!" the Secretary said, trying to maintain some semblance of order, "I'm trying to reach the government right now to get more information. In the meantime, we should all be prepared for an extended stay aboard this ship, okay? So, uh, you, please, and you," she said, indicating the sole flight attendant and a reporter they'd picked up on _Galactica_, "take an inventory of the emergency supplies and rations."

"Wait a minute," that somewhat annoying tour guide from _Galactica_ said, "who put you in charge?"

"Well, that's a good question," Laura said, addressing him, "The answer is no one. But this is a government ship and I am the senior government official, so that puts me in charge. So, why don't you help me out, and go with, uh," Laura said, sending a questioning glance at Willow, who nodded her consent, "Miss Canaan, over there, down into the cargo area, and see about setting it up as a living space." Willow quickly nodded, touching her lover's shoulder as she stood up, and reached for the man's arm, so they could go down to help prepare. "Everyone else, please, please, try and stay calm. Thank you."


	3. Buffy's Story II

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

On Kobol, she was formed – the Shadows formed her through the gods to save us from the demons, and keep her to preserve us. She dies that we might live.  
-Fragment of the Cordelian Writings, from the Colonization Era.

_Earlier today_

Buffy the Vampire Slayer lay restless, troubled by the image of the First Slayer in her dreams. Though she hadn't had a Slayer dream since the disaster after Deucalion, the dark-skinned Kelara still troubled her dreams every night. If sleep weren't necessary, even for a Slayer, she'd probably have given it up by now.

She looked around the small, bare apartment, trying to find some image within it to distract her. Riley didn't have much, probably a result of his long service in the military. She'd never actually looked around his apartment before, despite her practically living there most of the time for the last few months.

She untangled herself from her lover's arms, a task which would have proven impossible for any normal person of her size and height, and rose up in the bed, looking around the small room. She looked at the two pictures he kept in his bedroom. First was of himself with his parents and an older brother, at their farm on Canceron. The other was of his graduation from the Colonial Fleet Academy on Canceron.

That Riley had joined them against the Initiative and stayed in Sunnydale after the Initiative's fall, when these two pictures were those most important to him, said what Buffy meant to him. He had given up the military to help them against the Initiative. Sure, he'd been cleared of all charges, but his military career was certainly over – a record including mutiny was never going to be looked on kindly in the Fleet. He had given up his family, as well, to stay on Caprica, instead of returning to Canceron after his discharge.

Buffy was still restless, though, even after studying the pictures, and looked to the certificate he'd received two fortnights ago, something he'd tossed aside and never looked at again, though had to keep for records. She picked it up, fingering the only real evidence, however peripheral, of the Initiative's existence, outside of that ruined facility –

This document is to certify the early discharge of  
Riley Finn (Canceron)  
Captain  
from service in the Colonial Fleet, which he served with honor,  
On this day, Nguruvilu 2, 21354

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. Buffy glared at the phone with a look that made demons run and hide, but, unfortunately, the telephone is an inanimate object, thus incapable of fear.

Riley made no move from his deep sleep, so Buffy sighed, walked over to the bedside table, and moved to pick it up. She was tempted, for a fleeting moment, to simply hang it up again (it would serve them right, after all, for interrupting in the middle of the night), but decided it was probably important, and put it to her ear.

"Hello, Riley Finn's residence, Buffy speaking."

_"Buffy! Thank the gods. It's Cordelia."_

"Cordelia? Where'd you get this number? Why are you calling at this ungodly hour of the night? What's going on? Is it Angel? What's happened?"

_"Jeez, Buffy, channel Willow much?"_

"Cordelia, you'd better have a good rea-"

_"Sorry, sorry, I'd love to catch up and stuff, but we have a major problem."_

"What is it? Angel?"

_"An apocalypse, Buffy. And we can't do anything about it."_

"What? But we already had an apocalypse this year. And why can't we do anything?"

_"Listen, Buffy. Something's coming. I'm not sure what, but I had a vision. You have to go, get everyone out. Sunnydale, Saloniki, the Colonies in general, it's all going to be destroyed in a few hours. The only thing we can do is you, get off Caprica. You HAVE to get out. Get Dawn, Xander, Giles, whoever, and get OFF the planet. There's a way, somehow. Your boyfriend knows. Angel, Wesley and I have to worry about Saloniki, you worry about getting out of Sunnydale."_

Buffy's annoyance, her anger, her drowsiness, all vanished at once as the Slayer took charge, "What do you mean, we can't do anything about it? There must be something!"

_"Unless your Slayer powers can stop a nuke smashing the hellmouth from orbit, there is absolutely nothing you can do."_

"Damn." Buffy didn't know how Cordelia would know that was coming, but Buffy knew, absolutely, she couldn't do anything about that. Then her eyes widening, remembering something, "But, Cordy, wait! Xander and Anya, they're in Saloniki! Can you and Angel do something there?"

_"Anya? Never mind. We'll do what we can from here. Can you get Willow, Giles and your family?"_

"Willow and Tara are off-world seeing Tara's uncle or something. I wasn't paying attention. But they're not on Caprica."

_"Whatever, do what you can in Sunnydale. Just get off the planet, as soon as you can. You don't even have until daylight."_

"Alright. I'll get moving. See you later."

_"Gods willing.__ Bye."_

_Present_

Buffy was now rebandaging a rather nasty scratch Giles had received during their escape, and, having re-cleaned the wound, was now rewrapping with the emergency medical supplies they'd found in the raptor.

Dawn was sitting in the copilot's seat, listening to the wireless and, occasionally, sending out the same message that her older sister had been, before. Dawn was actually being rather more capable than usual in a crisis – considering Buffy's forced exclusion of Dawn from Scooby Gang activities for years, even after her participation at Graduation. The Slayer's observations saw her newly sixteen year old sister in a new light, one useful, even if she needed protection.

Though Buffy would never see her as a capable adult – she was Dawn, her little sister, who had been kidnapped by Angelus, among others, and would always need her protection.

"Krypter, krypter, krypter. Civilian flown raptor over Saloniki Valley requires assistance. Repeat, civilian flown raptor over Saloniki Valley requires assistance. Krypter, krypter, krypter."

Dawn listened, receiving no response but static. "Frak."

"Language, Dawn," Buffy chastised her baby sister from the other side of the raptor

Dawn snorted, and turned around to look at her annoyingly overprotective older sister, "Who cares? It's all gone. You tell me a better time to say 'frak.'"

Buffy looked up from Giles to her sister, "Mom wouldn't want you to, Dawn."

"Whatever," Dawn said, rolling her eyes and turning back to face the empty space ahead of the raptor; Sagittaron and Aerilon could just barely be seen in the distance.

Buffy returned the gesture, looking back to Giles and finishing the bandage, and, speaking to her watcher,

"Can you sit up?"

"I don't know," Giles started, "but, I suppose I should try."

He grabbed a bulkhead, using it as leverage as he pulled himself up, using his other hand to hold onto Buffy's arm for support. He managed to sit up, leaning against the bulkhead and looking directly out in the direction of the stars.

Then, a sound came out of the wireless, a slight voice, just barely picking up. Dawn hit a button saying, "Say again, Raptor 312, we do not copy" now switching the wireless to headphones she was wearing over her ears as Buffy quickly rose and came up to the front.

Buffy tried to take the headphones from her sister, only to have Dawn slap her hands aside as she listened carefully, "Acknowledging coordinates, Raptor 312."

"Well?" Buffy asked

"I got a military raptor, it's over the Kivaner Plains. We agreed to meet at a closer location, where we can tie our FTL drive to theirs, and they can take us to some convoy."

"Where are we going?" Buffy said, now starting up the raptor's engines and taking hold of the flight controls,

"Uh," Dawn said, checking a monitor visual of the immediate space around Caprica, "Make for heading 253 carom 151."

"Gotcha."


	4. Willow's Story II

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

The Wicces are one of the few groups who actively fight against demons; secret rituals and initiation rites work to ensure that their magicks are used for good, and innocents remain protected. Sometimes, when the Watcher allows, Wicces assist the Slayer in her battle.  
-Vampyr 12:13-15

_One year ago_

"Sounds like your mom's in a state of denial," Willow said, sympathetic to her friend.

Buffy sighed to the nerdy witch she called her best friend. "More like a colony of denial. She just has to realize that I can't go away."

"Well," Willow said, "maybe not now, but soon, maybe! Or, maybe I, too, hail from Denial-land."

Buffy sighed again, "Faith's turn to the titanic side pretty much put the proverbial kibosh on any away plans for me. UC Sunnydale – at least I got in. You! I mean, I can't believe YOU got into Yunnan!"

"It's pretty exciting," Willow said, blushing modestly.

"That's some pretty deep academia there," Oz said, in his normal lack of verbiage.

"That's where they make Gileses!" Buffy said, grinning, her Valley Girl accent in full force.

"I know!" Willow said, babbling, "I could learn, and, and eat Tauron food. Although I-I don't know how I feel about going to school on a foreign colony."

"Everything in life is foreign territory," Xander said, from a tree he was leaning against, reading a book. "Bretan. He's my teacher. The open road is my school."

"Making the open dumpster your cafeteria?" Buffy said, smirking.

"Go ahead, mock me."

"I think she just did," Oz commented, succinctly.

Xander put on one of his more amusing faces, "We Kivani anti-establishment types have always been persecuted."

"Well, sure," Oz said, "you're all so weird."

"I think it's neat," Willow said, "you doing the backpack, trail-mix, happy wanderer thing."

Xander smiled, "I'm aware it scores kinda high on the hokeymeter, but I think it'll be good for me. You know, help me to find myself."

"And help us to lose you," a new voice added, "Everyone's a winner."

"Well, look who just popped open a fresh can of venom," Xander said, standing up, "Hey, Cordelia, did'ya hear about Willow getting into Yunmore?"

"Yunnan," Willow corrected her best friend.

"Yunnan," Xander said, correcting himself, "And D.I.T., and Karnataka and every other college in the Colonies. As in your face I rub it."

"Yunnan?" Cordelia said, condescendingly, "Whoopee! Four years in teabag central. Sounds thrilling. And D.I.T. is an acne medicine ad with housing. And Karnataka is a dumping ground for those who didn't get into Maharashtra."

"I got into Maharashtra," Willow said, matter-of-factly.

"Any clue on what college you're going to," Xander asked, "so we can start calculating minimum safe distance?"

"None of your business," Cordelia said, bitchier than usual. "Certainly nowhere near you losers!"

"Okay, you guys," Buffy said, trying to be peacemaker, "don't forget to breathe between insults."

Cordelia turned to the blonde, "I'm sorry, Buffy. This conversation is reserved for people who actually have a future." Buffy's face went blank, and Cordelia, her task complete, stalked away from the Scoobies.

"An angry young woman." Oz could be counted on for a short, simple summary of any event.

"Oh, Buffy," Willow said, comforting her friend, "she was just being Cordelia, only more so. Don't pay any attention to her."

"It's alright," Buffy said. "And now, I have to go back and see what it is my wildly gesturing Freshman-type sister wants," she said, frowning, as she stood and walked back toward the school.

"Cordelia's definitely got a chip going," Xander commented.

"Maybe if you didn't goad her so much?" Willow asked

"I can't help it," Xander said, "It's my nature."

"Maybe you need a better nature."

"The Box of Gavrok," Buffy said, looking through the stack of books pushing Xander out of the way in her search, "It houses some great demonic energy or something which his honor needs to chow down on come A-Day."

Giles and Willow came into the library-over-Hellmouth, Giles carrying several large drawings.

"What's that?" came the question from Buffy's new watcher, Wesley Dobunni, asking toward the two coming in,

"Maps," Giles said, "and," Giles stopped, searching for a word, finally settling on, "stuff."

"Plans for City Hall," Willow said, "They were in the Department of Water and Power mainframe."

"The box is being kept under guard in a conference room on the top floor," Buffy said, pointing at the map, "there. Unfortunately, that's all I could get from my 'informant' before his aggressive tendencies forced me to introduce him to Mr. Pointy."

"Well, now," Wesley said, "here's what I think we should do-"

Buffy interrupted him, as though he hadn't been speaking, "I figure we can enter through the skylight. I'll take Angel with me."

"Agreed," Giles said.

"And there's a fire ladder on the east side of the building, here," Xander said.

"Yes, yes, fine," Wesley interrupted, "but we need to consider whether the Mayor-"

"It won't be enough to simply have possession of the Box." Giles removed his glasses.

"Right, we have to destroy it," Willow now spoke, "not just physically – ritually, with some down and dirty black magic."

"Hang on," Wesley said, "We don't know what such a ritual would require-"

"I think the Breath of the Atropyx is standard for this sort of thing," Giles said, flipping through a book. "Fairly simple recipe." Wesley went to look over Giles shoulder, only seconds before Giles handed the book off, "Xander?"

"I know, I know, I'm ingredient getting guy."

"Alright, stop!" Wesley called out, "I demand everyone _stop_ this instant!" the eyes throughout the library now turned on him, and he almost fell backward from the glares, "I'm in charge here and I say this is all moving too fast! We need time to fully analyze the situation and develop a proper stratagem."

"Wes," Buffy said, "hop in the fighter or get out of the launch tube."

"The Mayor," Wesley spoke, carefully, "will most assuredly have supernatural safeguards protecting the Box." There was silence, before Wesley's triumphant voice came out, "Oh, we forgot all about that, did we?"

"Looks like a job for witchy girl," Buffy said, turning to her best friend, "What do you say, Will? Big time danger."

"Hey," Willow said, "I eat danger for breakfast."

"But oddly enough," Xander joked, "she panics in the face of breakfast foods."

Buffy smiled at the Scoobies, "Let's get to work."

Willow sat quietly in the corner of the Mayor's office, reading from the Books of Ascension. After she'd been captured hours ago, during their capture operation against the Box of Gavrok, she'd escaped from the room they'd been holding her in, and had managed to get to the Mayor's office to read these books, so critical to the Mayor's nefarious plans.

This, unfortunately, meant that she was focused on the Books and not on her surroundings, and after getting drawn into the books, 'skimming' through them, she was surprised from the voice in the doorway,

"Check out the bookworm!"

Willow closed the book in her hands, letting it slip to the floor, as she quickly stood up. She swallowed, before being able to respond simply, "Faith."

"Anyone with brains," Faith said, exaggerating her accent, "anyone who knew what was going to happen to her, would try to claw her way outta this place." She grinned, "But you, you just can't stop detecting, can ya? Guess now ya know too much, and that kinda naturally leads to killing."

"Faith, wait," Willow said, "I wanna talk to you."

"Oh yeah," she snorted, "give me the speech again, please. 'Faith, we're still your friends. We can help you! It's not too late.'"

"It's way too late," Willow interrupted, confidently, "You know, it didn't have to be this way. But you made your choice. I know you had a tough life. I know that some people think you had a lot of bad breaks. Well, boohoo! Poor Gemenese immigrant. You know, some of us mithrasaries still haven't gotten over your little stunt last century. How many was it, five, six million?

"You know, you had a lot more in your life than some people. I mean, you were raised on Caprica. You had friends in your life, like Buffy. Now you have no one. You were a Slayer and now you're nothing. You're just a big, selfish, worthless waste."

Willow was stopped by an impact; specifically, the impact of Faith's fist with Willow's jaw. Willow tumbled to the floor, bleeding. She grabbed the Mayor's desk, standing back up, as Faith said,

"You hurt me, I hurt you. I'm just a little more efficient."

"Aw, and here I just thought you didn't have a comeback."

"You're beggin' for some deep pain."

"I'm not afraid of you."

Faith pulled out an engraved, carved metallic knife, raising it to Willow's eye level, "Let's see what we can do about that."

The Mayor's voice sounded in the hallway outside the office, "Faith, you can play with your new toy later. Something's come up."

After the trade of the Box for Willow last night, Buffy was sitting silently against a tree on the campus of Sunnydale High School, when her best friend walked up to her.

"Deep thoughts?" the redhead asked.

"Deep and meaningful."

"As in?" Willow asked.

"As in," Buffy said, "I'm never getting out of here. I kept thinking if I stopped the Mayor, or," Buffy sighed, "but I was kidding myself. I mean, there is always going to be something. I'm a Sunnydale girl, no other choice."

"Must be tough," Willow said, "I mean, here I am, I can do anything I want. I can go to any college on the planet, and a couple dozen offworld, if I want."

"Please tell me you're going somewhere with this," Buffy said, pleading,

"No," Willow said, smiling, handing Buffy a confirmation letter addressed in Willow's neat handwriting, "I'm not going anywhere."

"UC Sunnydale?"

"I will be matriculating with the Class of 21357."

"Are you serious?" Buffy said, the shock on her face changing to a look of complete joy.

"Say, isn't that where you're going?"

Buffy grabbed Willow and hugged her with all her strength; which, being a Slayer, was a _lot_ of strength, and they both tumbled to the ground.

"I can't believe it!" Buffy said, "Are you serious?" Then Buffy's face fell, and she said, "Ah, wait, what am I saying? You can't."

"What do you mean, I can't?" Willow said, looking at Buffy.

"I won't let you," Buffy said, stubbornly.

"Of the two people here," Willow said, "which is the boss of me?"

"There are better schools," Buffy protested,

"Sunnydale's not bad," Willow said, "And-and I can design my own curriculum."

"Okay, well," Buffy said, "there are safer schools. There are safer prisons. I can't let you stay because of me."

"Actually," Willow said, "this isn't about you. Although I'm fond, don't get me wrong, of you. The other night, you know, being captured and all, facing off with Faith, things kinda got clear. I mean, you've been fighting evil here for three years, and I've helped some, and now we're supposed to decide what we want to do with our lives. And I just realized that that's what I want to do. Fight evil, help people. I mean, I-I think it's worth doing. And I don't think you do it because you have to. It's a good fight, Buffy. And I want in."

_Present_

"What do you get down there, now?" Willow called out, holding the end of a tape measure against the cargo bay's support pillar.

"29.3," Tara's voice called back in response.

"Brokh!" Willow swore, releasing the measure in anger, and it sailed back straight to her girlfriend. Fortunately, the blonde witch was more aware than many gave her credit for, dropping her own side of the tape measure and jumping away before the tape sailed back into the main part of the tool, it flying back several meters before crashing into the wall at speed.

"Drek!" Willow called, running the distance across the cargo bay straight toward Tara, "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine!" Tara called back, as she carefully stood up from where she had jumped out of the tape measure's way.

Willow hugged her girlfriend, "Ah mein Got I'm sorry I'm sorry I was just distracted and pished off at the idiots who built this ship and didn't think about how the tape measure would fly back and that it for whatever reason doesn't have a locking function and I didn't mean to hurt you with it and are you alright and-"

"Willow!" Tara said, her mysterious half-smile appearing on her face at the sound of Willow's babble, "I'm alright! I'm not hurt."

"Oh, thank the gods," Willow said, releasing her girlfriend from her embrace, as she smiled, and fell back from her lover, turning around and walking to the tape measure, "whoever built this ship was oysnarn. This shtub is supposed to be 32.5 in length," she said, picking it up, "You know, we could fit another half tutz people in here if it were the right size."

"Willow," Tara said, uncertainly, "do y-you realize you k-keep speaking in M-mithrasarian?"

"What?" Willow said, uncertainly, reviewing her last few statements in her head, eyes widening, "Oh my gods, you're right. I'm sorry. I haven't done that since middle school, Cordelia used to always make fun of me for it and I don't know why I keep doing it now I mean it's been so long and it was a-"

"Willow! It's alright, I j-just wanted you to know. I can tell what they mean from context."

"You can?" Willow said, uncertainly.

"Well-" Tara said, before half-smiling, "what's a tutz?"

Before Willow could explain, a voice said, "Everything alright in here, ladies?"

Willow turned around toward the door to see the admittedly attractive Captain Adama in the doorway, having, apparently, come aboard ship.

"Yes, Lee. There's no problem," Tara said, a full smile coming onto her face, "We were just attacked by an evil tape measure. There's really no problem."

"Tara Lothian," Lee started, shaking his head, "how did you and your girlfriend manage to get attacked by an evil tape measure?"

Willow blushed, smiling sheepishly, "I kinda let the tape part go, and the safety thingy wasn't working right."

"Ah," he said. Willow now noticed the very annoying tour guide was now behind Lee, trying to get his attention.

Willow said, "You'd getter go report to the Secretary. She's up with the pilot."

"Alright."

Willow and Tara wandered back up the stairwell, having finished their measurements in the cargo bay below, with a series of estimates for living space written up on a piece of note paper. Tara was smiling at a joke Willow had told as they came up, and entered the main hallway, where they were floored by a group of people, standing around, Secretary Roslin standing with another woman, the priest from the _Galactica_, her hand on the Sacred Scrolls,

"Please raise your right hand, and repeat after me. I, Laura Roslin,"

"I, Laura Roslin,"

"Do now avow and affirm,"

"Do now avow and affirm,"

"That I take the office of President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol,"

"That I accept the office of the - that I accept the office of the President of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol,"

"And that I will protect and defend the sovereignty of the Colonies,"

"And that I will protect and defend the sovereignty of the Colonies,"

"And preserve the Articles of Colonization,"

"And preserve the Articles of Colonization,"

"With every fiber of my being."

"With every fiber of my being."


	5. Buffy's Story III

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

Hail, my friend, anointed of Calyntha, for you have been blessed by the gods with the Potential to fight.  
Hail, milady, sister of Kelara, for you are the blessed Avatar, Chosen to fight the Vampires, the Demons and the forces of darkness.  
-Former Watcher greetings to a newly discovered Potential and to a newly called Slayer

_Six fortnights ago_

_Buffy, wake up._

_The dorm room is normal, but she looks and doesn't see her best friend, but rather her friend's ex-demon girlfriend hiding under the witch's covers._

_Buffy, you have to wake up right away._

_I'm not really in charge of these things._

_Please wake up. Oh, please._

_I need my beauty sleep. So stop it, okay?_

_She rolls to her back and sees the once-human creature snarl at her, and she snaps, up, now in her bedroom away from school._

_She lies back._

_She finds herself standing and looking at another Wicce, not her best friend, but her girlfriend._

_Faith and I just made that bed._

_For who?_

_I thought you were here to tell me. The guys aren't here, are they? We were gonna hang out and watch movies to-_

_You lost them._

_No. No, I think they need me to find them._

_The alarm clock reads 04:30 AM._

_It's so late._

_Oh, that clock's completely wrong. Here._

_A tarot card. Manus. The hands._

_I'm never gonna use those._

_You think you know what's to come. What you are. You haven't even begun._

_I think I need to go find the others._

_She walks from the room, and can't hear the soft whispering behind her._

_It's a hallway she finds herself in. It is familiar, or is it? UC Sunnydale High? It's all so similar. It doesn't feel right._

_Have you seen my friends?_

_The man shakes his head._

_They wouldn't just disappear._

_The walls are cracked, there is a hole, which she looks into._

_Mom?_

_Oh, hi honey._

_Why are you living in the walls?_

_Oh, sweetie, no, I'm fine here. Don't worry about me._

_It looks dirty._

_Well, it seems that way to you. I made some lemonade. You go find your friends._

_I, I think they might be in danger._

_Giggling._

_I'm sorry, dear, um, a mouse is playing with my knees._

_I, I really don't think you should live in there._

_Her male friend, over there, climbing the stairs to the library._

_Well, you could probably break through the wall._

_She walks away, leaving the mother and chasing her friend. She walks slowly down the hall. Two men, sitting at a conference table. A map of the Cyrannus System and the twelve individual worlds._

_Hey there, killer._

_Riley? You're back._

_I never left._

_But how did the debriefing go?_

_I told you not to worry about that. It went great. They made me surgeon general._

_Why didn't you come and tell me? We could have celebrated._

_Oh, we're drawing up a plan for interstellar domination. The key element? Ambrosia that thinks._

_Interstellar domination? I-is that good?_

_Baby, we're the Fleet. It's what we do._

_She's uncomfortable with certain concepts. It's understandable. Aggression is a natural human tendency. Though you and me come by it another way._

_We're not demons._

_Is that a fact?_

_Buffy, we've got important work here. A lot of filing, giving things names._

_What was yours?_

_Before Deucalion? Not a man among us can remember._

_Another voice. The demons have escaped. Please run for your lives._

_This could be trouble. The two men stand._

_We'd better make a fort._

_I'll get some pillows._

_Wait, she protests, I have weapons!_

_She opens the bag and frowns. It is full of mud. She reaches into the bag, and puts the mud all over her hands, before spreading it across her face._

_Thought you were looking for your friends. Okay, killer, if that's the way you want it. I guess you're on your own. She walks off._

_She is in the desert. The sun is not Cyrannus. It is too orange to be Cyrannus. She's left the worlds. There is rippled sand, as on a beach. There's a palm tree. A woman hums. She walks down a hill. The breeze ruffles her hair, her dress._

_I'm never gonna find them here._

_It's her best friend's special friend. She's wearing pink all over._

_Of course not. That's the reason you came._

_You're not in my dream._

_I was borrowed. Someone has to speak for her._

_The creature, again, now appears before her, growling, her dark skin contrasting against the harsh light of the ancient desert._

_Let her speak for herself. That's what's done in polite circles. Why do you follow me?_

_I don't._

_Where are my friends?_

_You're asking the wrong questions._

_Make her speak!_

_I have no speech. No name. I live in the action of death, the blood cry, the penetrating wound. I am destruction. Absolute. Alone._

_The Slayer._

_The First._

_I am not alone._

_The Slayer does not walk in the world._

_I walk. I talk. I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out. And I don't sleep on a bed of bones. Now give me back my friends!_

_The creature, she speaks._

_No friends it sneers. Just the kill! We. Are. Alone!_

_You were alone. She is not._

_Neither eldest Slayer, nor creature, nor Wicce speaks._

_You served the Shadows worthlessly. The Shadows in their worthless platitudes._

_She is dark-skinned, but she is not the First. She speaks. She is the Avatar._

_Once they did as they thought they must. Now they work for their own meaningless power. You, alone, because of them. Not because of what you are._

_She serves not the shadows. She serves me herself without need for intercessor._

_The form is Chosen. She's met her, but not one imprisoned._

_She is my true avatar. She needs no watcher, no director, but me. Her companions assist her by my will._

_I am alone, the witch speaks, I am always alone. None else shall escape my fate. The chain of my sisters fights alone or it ends. So it is written._

_It comes time for your chain to end. All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again, the Sagittaron accent speaks._

_Now give her back her friends, or I'll end you._

_The creature snarls, but is held back now by the Avatar. The Avatar turns to her, the time is coming. The chain ends. You are among the last._

_Me? But I can't do it._

_It is what you were born for, daughter. One last duty for your chain. You must do your final duty._

_She's not ready, the Wicce says, she's still-_

_Your final sisters will have no impediment._

_I am the last?_

_Among them. Protect it. It is your final duty. Protect it._

_What?_

_A grim smile, and the witch speaks_

_Be back before dawn._

_Present_

Dawn Summer fidgeted in the copilot's chair of the raptor as Buffy carefully maneuvered them around the hulk of a Colonial viper – once a pride of the Colonial Fleet, now a piece of space garbage orbiting Caprica.

Giles was awake, and moving pretty well; it seemed, however much he had been injured it wasn't as bad as some of his injuries in the past. He was sitting in the ECO chair in the back of the raptor, trying to stay awake and look around at where they were.

The sound of the silence was deafening.

Dawn fidgeted again. Buffy carefully pulled back onto course from her avoidance of the Colonial viper. It wasn't really that difficult, Buffy was thinking. Either she was naturally (or slayerly) a good pilot, or the Fleet _really_ exaggerated how difficult flying was.

Dawn twitched again, and Buffy finally snapped, "Will you stop that! It's distracting."

"Geez, sorry," Dawn said, sarcastically rolling her eyes, "Tiny movements are apparently a crime against humanity."

"What, need a little private time this time of night? Left all your special porn back in Sunnydale?" Buffy snarked, the stress of the last few hours getting to her more than it should.

Dawn blushed, but managed to get out, "Shut up."

Buffy could actually hear Giles cleaning his glasses in the back of the raptor.

Another minute in silence passed, before Dawn twitched again.

"Godsdammit, Dawn! I've had about enough of-"

Buffy was interrupted by a sound of beeping from the back, which Dawn got up, a little too quickly, to look at. "Dradis contact. Raptor. I think it's our raptor."

"Good!" Buffy said, a little too relieved. "Good."

Dawn went back to the copilot seat, and sat down, and pushed a button,

"Colonial Raptor 312, Raptor 312, do you copy?"

_"Raptor 312, acknowledged, this is Lieutenant Sharon Valerii, callsign Boomer," _a voice came through the wireless, _"This is the civilian raptor 'Summer'?"_

"Uh, yeah, Raptor 312. Out of Sunnydale, Caprica."

_"Sunnydale, was that the town near Saloniki that got hit?" _Boomer asked, and, after Dawn replied in the affirmative, "_Damn. Does…anyone over there actually know how to fly a raptor?"_

"My sister's been doing it on instinct since Sunnydale. We got out a few seconds before it went off."

_"Thank the gods,"_ Boomer said, before saying, _"Your sister's a natural. Uh, can you do ECO-work? If you can-"_

The Slayer in Buffy listened carefully to the technical details (she might need to know, later), as Dawn activated, deactivated and changed the various settings in the back, around Giles, to Boomer's specifications.

"Got it, Boomer."

_"Alright. Hold tight, Summer, this never feels good."_

Buffy, Dawn and Giles all closed their eyes as their raptor vanished faster than light.


	6. Willow's Story III

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

"Military? They're all worthless. All the battlestars in all the fleets of all the Colonies couldn't put even the slightest dent in the vampire population."  
-Anath Brijesha, Chairman of the Watchers Council (21013-21027)

_Earlier today_

Willow Canaan now regretted her mostly not sleeping on the flight to the Battlestar _Galactica_, because she was now rather drowsy, while her girlfriend was downright perky. Well, for Tara, that is. But, Willow had never met any of Tara's family before. After the relative disaster of their dinner with Willow's parents, Willow was determined to make a good impression on Tara's relatives. At least, the ones she liked. Tara had told her, hesitatingly, about her father's family. Willow was terribly tempted to turn the Lothians in general into rats.

But this side of the family was the one that Tara's mother had come out of. Sure, they were military, but they were Tara's family, and she liked them. They couldn't be terrible. These were the people Tara had known and adored her entire life, and Willow would by lying to herself if she didn't admit she felt more than a little pressure at meeting them.

At least, especially, this first one.

Tara moved through the Battlestar with relative ease; she'd never been here before, but Willow had interrogated out of her that she'd memorized the specs of a _Columbia_-class Battlestar when she was in grade school for fun. Back before she had been initiated into Wicce, witchcraft and magic.

Tara finally came to the door they were looking for, and knocked hard. A gruff 'come in' could be heard through the door, and Tara opened the hatch to the commander's quarters.

Once inside, Willow took in Tara's uncle. They had little resemblance, but Willow could see the strong, blue eyes in both of them – eyes that showed an overt calmness and intensity from the old veteran, while they betrayed the strong person under all Tara's uncertainty. But, the way they looked at each other, with a kind of unquestioned love that was only shared by family, banished any hint of doubt in Willow's mind that they weren't related.

"Tara!" the commander said, betraying a slight emotion with a smile as he rose from a rather comfortable looking couch in the center of his room, and standing to look into his niece.

"Uncle Bill," Tara said, smiling, her normal nervousness absolutely gone (well, not absolutely gone – it had rather annoyingly fled into Willow's own spirit) as she went up to, and hugged, her uncle.

After a short hug, they released each other, and the commander spoke to Tara, "How are you?"

"I'm alright, Uncle Bill. School's fine."

"How long has it been? Two, three years?"

"Just two years. Here!" she suddenly declared, as she moved out of the way, "Uncle Bill, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Willow Canaan. Will, this is my uncle, William Adama."

Willow felt the commander's eyes fall onto hers with his face becoming serious, and she immediately felt like she was being assessed, tested for worthiness. It took every ounce of her determination not to degrade into a bubbling, babbling mess the way she would in seconds to anyone and everyone, even her best friends, back in High School – before Buffy, that is. Her voice, however, still came out nervously,

"Nice to meet you, sir."

Whatever Commander Adama had been looking for in Willow, he'd apparently found after Willow spoke, and he nodded, and spoke warmly, though gruffly, "It's a pleasure, Miss Canaan. And sir is for the military personnel."

"Yes, sir. I mean, right, I understand, Commander, uh, Mr. Adama."

Adama's gaze darkened for a moment, "Now, Miss Canaan, I'm sure you understand, Tara is my niece, and she means a great deal to me. If you hurt her," he said, before Tara interrupted him

"Uncle Bill!" Tara said, lightly hitting the man, "Stop threatening my girlfriend."

"It's alright, sir," Willow stumbled over her words, "Commander, um, sir, I and my friends do the same, though, I don't think they did so to Tara, because they didn't see her as any sort of threat because I'm bisexual and none of them knew that before Tara so it came as kind of a shock to them, but I've threatened my best friend's boyfriends myself, and she's threatened mine in the past."

Commander Adama turned to Willow's girlfriend, with what was, to her, an inscrutable look on his face. Apparently, it wasn't so to Tara –

"What? I think it's cute."

Willow blushed.

After having met Tara's cousin, Lee, Willow was actually doing alright. She had managed not to babble too much in front of either Tara's uncle or her cousin, and she'd managed, by following Tara's memory map, to not get lost once on the confusing battlestar.

Now, after the tour of the brand new museum – models and real versions of everything that had been used in the Cylon War! It was fascinating. Cylon centurions, raiders and basestars; Colonial vipers and models of the _Columbia-_class battlestars and the older, individual colonial models used in the early part of the war. To a nerd, even a science nerd like Willow, it was amazing. And totally worth how much Xander and Buffy were going to rag on her for her descriptions when she got back to Sunnydale.

Now, she was sitting in the audience of the official opening ceremony for the museum. Laura had spoken already, and now a priest of some sort was finishing her speech. Willow, honestly, hadn't been listening. It wasn't important enough. But Tara's uncle? That was important. Not to mention that he was a real veteran of the war – not like Laura or the priest. Something she respected.

Military were generally bad, unfortunately – look at what happened with Deucalion! That was just _asking_ for a new War, mixing cybernetic parts with demon. Even the Cylons would probably find that disgusting. But, the heroes of the Fleet from the Cylon War were the reason for unification. It was the reason for the end of the ghettos, and for the freedom of the mithrasaries all throughout the Colonies. And that was a cause Willow could rally behind.

"And now," said a rather annoying tour guide (Willow had never caught his name), "it is my great pleasure to introduce the last commander of the Battlestar _Galactica_, Commander William Adama, a veteran pilot of the Cylon War."

There was a decent amount of applause, including a polite amount from Willow, as Tara's uncle approached the podium.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Doral, everyone," the old military man said, his eyes looking all across the audience, settling ever so slightly on Tara for a moment before he continued, clearly reading from a sheet of paper in his hand, "The Cylon War is long over, yet we must not forget the reasons why so many sacrificed so much in the cause of freedom. The cost of wearing the uniform can be high, but,"

The commander trailed off, looking into the eyes of the _Galactica_ officers in the crowd, and then into space for a few seconds, as his voice broke a little, but he forged on a little, "sometimes it's too high."

He folded the paper in his hands, looking at the audience, and his formal, loud voice fell into more familiar tones, the honest gruffness Willow had seen in his quarters back.

"You know, when we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction. But we never answered the question," he said, looking into everyone's eyes, "Why? Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder, because of greed, spite, jealousy, and we still visit all of our sins upon," he stopped, looking down, "upon our children."

He steadied himself behind the podium, looking back to the audience, "We refuse to accept the responsibility for anything that we've done. Like we did with the Cylons. We decided to play the gods, create," he stopped, searching for a word, "life. When that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it really wasn't our fault, not really."

He looked deeply into the eyes of everyone in the room, all of them spellbound and silent as he spoke, "You cannot play the gods, then wash your hands of the things that you've created. Sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things you've done anymore."

There was silent for several moments, before Secretary Roslin began applauding, standing with her hands impacting, before the whole room followed her, including Willow and Tara, applauding wildly for _Galactica_'s last commander.

_Present_

"But if we evacuate the _Moira_ onto the _Prometheus_ now, we have to make the _Aethilides_ start unloading onto the _Gideon_, and _Gideon_ is scheduled to take the offload from _Malafide_. They've been waiting on that ship for a while."

Willow sighed, "Exactly, then the _Malafide_ can empty here, there's plenty of space."

Aaron Doral was arguing, pointlessly, "If _Malafide_ empties here, we risk the security of the ship from political terrorists, who could take advantage-"

"Terrorists? Come on! It's the frakking end of the worlds!" Willow said, losing her temper, "If you're still worried about terrorists taking out the President in the middle of a godsdamn apocalypse, you clearly need to get your priorities in order!"

"Miss Canaan's plan works for me," she finally interrupted, ending the argument, "Tell _Malafide_ to get in position to evacuate directly to _Colonial One_, and rearrange the convoy to get it done."

The room chorused, "Yes, Madam President."

"Captain Adama, Madam President," said a man, coming in – _Colonial One_'s captain – "We've got a signal from two military shuttles. One is callsigned 'Boomer' and the other is civilian flown. They're requesting to land."

"Give them clearance. Captain Apollo, meet Boomer and our civilians flying a raptor in the docking bay. Miss Canaan, you get down to the hatch in the docking bay and organize where _Malafide_'s refugees are going to come aboard."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, Madam President."


	7. Buffy's Story IV

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

"The Cylons are not a demonic entity, and thus are beyond the purview of the Slayer. Keep her on Aquaria and focus on the vampires! The new Fleet can deal with the Cy-"  
-Last orders of Marcus Travers to active watcher Arthur Giles, seconds before the Siege of Tauron, First Cylon War.

_Earlier today_

Another punch, with a roundhouse kick sent the first vampire flying into the brush in one of the neighbor's yards, where Riley moved to stab him in the heart with a wooden stake. Buffy, meanwhile, followed up with several punches to the second vampire, throwing her to the street and leaning down, introducing Mr. Pointy into her chest. The vampires both, almost in synchronization, exploded into dust on the concrete and in the grass of Revello Drive.

"They're persistent tonight," Riley commented, dusting himself off as they went back to the sidewalk, walking through the streets of Sunnydale to Buffy's old house.

"Yeah," Buffy said, stopping to contemplate, "wonder if it has anything to do with what Cordelia told me."

"If you say so," Riley said. Despite everything he'd seen, he still didn't really believe in magic – or seers or prophets. Ironic, really, since he was so conservative, religiously. No Gemenese, certainly, but conservative. Seers went out with the Colonization Era, Riley had believed, until Buffy had brought it up with him less than an hour ago. It seems Cordelia had never come up in their conversations before, even when Angel had.

Ha, Buffy thought, that she would perpetrate that myth about Gemenese even in her mind, after Faith. Goes to show, old stereotypes die hard.

They approached the house, Buffy taking keys out of her pocket as they went onto the porch and to the front door. She unlocked it, opening, and immediately hitting the light switches nearby, and running up the stairs and pushing open the door to her mother's room quickly, where she found her mother asleep.

"Mom! _Mom!_ Wake up!"

Joyce stirred, her eyes blinking, "Buffy? What is it?"

"No time, mom, we have to go. Get dressed."

"What, what is it?"

"Apocalypse situation, mom. We have to move. Get dressed, get things together. I'll go wake up Dawn."

"I don't think so! Dawn can't be-"

"_MOM!_ We so don't have time. Get dressed. Get things together. Now. This is life or death. I'll go get Dawn."

Before her mother could protest, Buffy was out, banging on Dawn's door and forcing her way in, finding her sister just pulling on a pair of pants.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, and Dawn said, smoothly, "I heard you out doing the dusty-thing. When you were coming to the house, I knew something was up. Especially with Xander and Willow out of town."

"Whatever. Finish getting dressed, be ready to move in five minutes. Mom's getting ready."

"Alright, Buff."

Buffy went to close the door, before saying, "And, Dawn?" Buffy said, Dawn looking back at her, questioningly, "if you don't want me to know what you were doing, hide the magazine better."

Dawn blushed as Buffy closed the door, following up her impromptu visit to her sister by going into her own room, and flicking the light switch. She rushed through the room to her footlocker, quickly unlocking it and taking out a number of weapons and various other items of use against vampire and demons.

She and Riley, on the way over, had discussed how he apparently knew of a way, but honestly, he couldn't think of one besides breaking into the Sunnydale Fleet Base outside of town. He promised to keep working on it, but, for now – the demons were out. They'd killed more demons and vampires than there should have been between Riley's apartment and the Summers home, and, if that were any indications, Sunnydale was especially crawling with the beasties tonight.

After gathering the weapons, she packed a small bag – a few outfits, a few personal items, and so on, before running downstairs, where her mother and sister already were, small bags prepared and dressed. She handed Riley a medium sword, "Better than a stake, long term."

She looked at her little sister – "You been practicing?"

"Every other day."

"Think you can do it?"

Dawn shrugged, "Sure."

Buffy handed her a crossbow, and a packet of bolts, and, afterward, put several bottles of holy water in her mothers' hands.

"Alright, plan – we need to get off Caprica. As soon as possible. We have hours. We cannot get to Saloniki first. We cannot get to Delphi first. We must leave, now. Until we know how we're going to do that, we need to plan. The plan right now – we go to Giles'. Any questions?"

Silence.

Buffy grimaced, "Then let's go."

_Present_

As they entered the hangar of the commercial spaceliner (which had identified itself as _Colonial One_), Buffy took a look at the surroundings. There was a man in a Colonial flight suit awaiting them, as the two raptors squeezed into the hangar's limited space. Buffy switched off the engines, pushing several buttons on instinct that turned off all the systems, and Dawn stood up, using what was, apparently, the release that opened the outer ramp of the military shuttle.

Giles stood up, mostly under his own power, and the three of them left the raptor as the other raptor began to open up, and a number of people began leaving it.

A woman from the other raptor went up to the pilot standing on the deck, "Excuse me, my husband, he's in the Colonial Fleet. In Gemenon?"

"Okay," the man said, "the Colonial Fleet on Gemenon, I'll see what I can do. If you can just head right this way?"

The woman who had been piloting the other raptor came out, and nodded at them, "Are you sure you don't have any training?"

Buffy shook her head.

"Then you're a better pilot than I am." The woman turned, back to the other pilot, "Captain Adama, sir! Lieutenant Valerii, Battlestar _Galactica_. I've got two communications pods left, sir, That's it. No jiggers, no drones, no mufflers, no nothing."

"Well, at least you've still got your electronic suite. That old crate of mine can barely navigate from A to B."

"That old crate may have saved your life, sir."

"How's that, Boomer?"

"The Viper Mark VIIs?" she said, as Buffy walked up closer behind her, with Dawn and Giles, "The Cylons shut 'em down like they threw a switch or something. And I've been hearing reports like that from all over. The only fighters that are having any success are either old or in need of some major overhaul."

"And, who's this, Boomer?"

"Ask them, sir. Apparently got the raptor, flew it on instinct off of Caprica. Escaped just in the nick of time."

Buffy interrupted, "Buffy Summer, Captain. I had, um, a boyfriend, discharged Colonial Fleet. Captain Riley Finn. He knew where the raptor was, but he got," she trailed off, before forcing herself to continue, "killed on the way there. I got lucky."

Captain Adama regarded her for several seconds, and nodded, "Well, that's good. We'll need good pilots if this goes on much longer."

Buffy was unsure, stumbling a little "I, I guess so-"

"Call me Lee, Buffy."

"Okay." Buffy was still shell shocked from all that had occurred, and, before she could continue, Lee indicated, "Why don't you go through to the bay? Ms. Lothian will get your family settled."

No, it couldn't be. Could it? "Thank you."

She walked quickly through, Dawn and Giles almost running after her, as they heard the conversation continuing behind them,

"That him?"

"Yeah. _Hope he's worth it!_ Sorry, sir."

As they ran quickly into the bay, possibly the best sight Buffy had ever seen in her life was there – Tara Lothian, directing several of the other raptor's evacuees to a cargo bay.

"Tara!" Buffy cried, running for her.

Tara looked up and, uncharacteristically, called out her name, "Buffy!"

They hugged for several seconds, before both realized the awkwardness of the situation.

"Um, I-"

Tara blurted out, "Willow's been so worried about you."

Buffy stared into Tara's eyes, as Tara continued, "Sh-she hasn't been talking a-about it, b-but she's been speaking Mithrasarian, she's been swearing, she's been r-really off since Caprica got hit."

Dawn rushed past Buffy, hugging Tara deeply, as Giles, much more calmly, came over.

"Where is Willow, Tara?" he asked, his Tauron voice filled with more emotion than Buffy had, honestly, ever heard from her watcher.

"Sh-she's at one of the docking ports, with refugees f-from another ship. I'll take you."


	8. Willow's Story IV

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave; the flashes thereof of fire, a very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it  
-Nign fun-Nignen 8:6-7a, Mithrasarian poetic text

_Several fortnights ago_

"Zippo."

Buffy sat down on Giles' desk, and looked back up at the Scooby gang around her, before continuing, "Patrol's been totally uneventful. My kill count's way down."

Willow and Tara were sitting on stools at the counter between Giles' kitchen and living room, alongside Anya on Xander's lap in a third stool. Giles was behind them, cleaning in the kitchen, while Buffy's boyfriend, Riley, standing over by the couch, more in the living room, closer to Buffy.

Willow spoke quietly to Tara, "She means there's been less bad guy activity."

"Well," Giles said, responding to Buffy, "we, unfortunately, know what that often indicates."

"Buffy doesn't make her quota," Xander said, shaking his finger at Buffy, "Bad slayer!"

"Well, I wish it were that innocuous, Xander," Giles said, "but with Deucalion around, I feel he's involved somehow."

Willow spoke, in the same quiet tones, "When things get slow, it's usually because there's some extra evil brewing."

Tara nodded as the Scooby meeting continued, and Riley took the floor.

"Except, the weird thing is, we've been busy at the Initiative. Our squads are pulling a lot more captures. We got demons coming out our ears."

Willow talked quietly again, "That's a metaphor."

Tara whispered back, "I got it, thanks."

"I'm overhelping, aren't I?"

Tara laughed quietly at Willow.

Giles was coming out of the kitchen, and stood in the front hall, in front of the door, and continued speaking, "So the activity's shifted, but not stopped. That's fascinating."

Anya interrupted, "To an extremely bored person, maybe." Giles gave Anya a very annoyed look, as she continued, "Well, that was a thrilling hour," and everyone started to stand up, including Giles, who spoke.

"You know, I really don't appreciate your snide remarks, Anya!"

Anya and Xander both looked at Giles, in shock at the outburst, as Giles continued, "Now, I have a great deal of experience in these matters and, if I say there is a matter of some import brewing I - I - "

Giles turned around, to look at the door, which had opened midway through his diatribe, and which the attention of the entire Scooby gang had now turned. Tara and Riley looked in confusion, and the remaining Scoobies looked in surprise at the figure in the doorway,

"Oz," Willow said, in utter shock, as a look of understanding came on Tara's face. "When- when did you get back?"

"Pretty much now."

The tension was powerful as Xander stepped up past the Scoobies toward the werewolf, "Oz, man. Hate to sound like grandma, but - you don't call, you don't write,"

"Yeah. Sorry."

Buffy now spoke, "So - are you here-here, or are you just passing through?"

Giles recovered his voice, "Well, um, let's not, uh, bombard the poor chap with, uh, questions right off. Can I get you something, Oz? Tea?"

"I'll pass, thanks."

The group was silent for several seconds, before Oz spoke again, "Look, I'm going to Devon's to see if he's got a place I can crash. But," he hesitated, "I was hoping that we could talk, Willow. Later. Tonight," he clarified.

"Uh," Willow tried to hold herself together, "I guess so."

"I'll come by your place?"

Willow was silent for a few seconds, "Okay."

Oz smiled, "It's great to see you guys again. Really."

He walked back, closing the door behind him. There was utter silence in the room for a while, before Anya broke it, bluntly,

"Everyone's uncomfortable now."

Buffy touched Willow's arm,

"Will? You okay?"

"I-"

Tara suddenly spoke, "I-I, j-just- um, I-I realized, um, I-I'm-I'm late for a st-study group."

"Tara, wait!" Willow said, before Tara continued,

"N-no, it's okay, Willow. You - you should be w-with your friends and - and I-I should go."

She walked quickly, almost ran, to the door, opening it and closing it behind her, as Willow called out quietly,

"Wait-"

"Oz," Willow said, as they walked outside on the campus of UC Sunnydale, late at night, "This is all so weird."

Oz stopped, looking at her, and fidgeting with something in his hand, as Willow continued, "I, I feel like this isn't really happening. Like it's a dream - or-or something."

"It's real," Oz said, "Look up."

"What?"

Oz smiled, "Look at the sky."

Willow looked up, seeing the stars above. She could pick out Ragnar from here, and, just barely, Canceron, and Romo, one of the brightest stars in the Caprican sky – around which, according to scriptures, Kobol, the homeworld of humanity, orbited.

Then, she looked again, realizing what it was, in shock.

"I guess you stopped keeping track of 'em after I left."

"Full moons," Willow said, in shock, trying to make it register in her mind.

"Full moons." Indeed, Amalthea and Makara, Caprica's twin moons, were brightly shining in the sky, Amalthea's blue seas and green pastures, and the reflective white of Makara shining down on the Saloniki Valley.

"Full moons, but - but how? I mean," she smiled, "you did it! How, how did you do it? Where did you go?"

"It's a long story."

Willow looked over Oz again, as though checking for signs of him changing, and then launched herself into him, hugging, "Oh my gods, Oz!"

Suddenly, she pulled back, away from him, no longer smiling, and no sound of joy in her face, as her face filled with confusion,

"This is - I mean, it's wonderful for you."

Oz spoke, "I talked to Xander, and he said you didn't have a new guy."

"No," Willow said, hesitating, "No new," she hesitated, slightly, "guy-"

Oz smiled, taking Willow's hand, "I know what I put you through, and I'm not gonna push. But I am a - different person than when I left. And I can be what you need, now."

Willow looked with some dismay, as Oz continued, "That's what I want. That's why I'm here."

Willow was sitting in her dorm, silently in long thought while holding a stuffed animal, when Buffy came in,

"Hey."

"Hey," Willow responded, "You okay?"

Buffy rubbed her neck, "Yeah, I just - I don't wanna talk about it. I wanna talk about you and Oz! You saw him, right?"

"I was with him all night," she said, with little emotion, still staring forward.

Buffy raised her eyebrows, "All night?" she said, grinning and sitting on Willow's bed next to her, "Oh my gods! Wait. Last night was a wolf moons, right?"

"Yup," Willow said, smiling.

"So," Buffy said, "Either you're going to tell me something incredibly kinky, or-"

"No kink," Willow interrupted her friend, "He didn't change, Buffy. He said he was going to find a cure, and he did. On Sagittaron."

Buffy smiled, "Oh my gods. I can't believe it," she looked over at her friend, who was again without expression, staring at the wall and holding her stuffed animal, "Okay, I'm all with the woohoo here, and you're not."

"No," Willow said, "I mean, there's 'woo' and there's 'hoo'. But there's 'uh-oh' and 'why now?' and - it's complicated."

"Why complicated?"

Willow steeled herself, and managed to say it aloud, "It's complicated, because of - Tara."

Buffy frowned, "You mean Tara has a crush on Oz? No-"

Willow looked at Buffy with wide eyes, and it hit Buffy like a fyarl demon to the head, Buffy exclaiming "Oh! oh!"

Buffy stood up, quickly, "Oh, um - well, that's great! You know, I mean, I think Tara's a-a really great girl, Will."

"She is," Willow said, "And - there's something between us. It - it wasn't something I was really looking for, but - it's just powerful. And totally different what I and Oz have," she stopped, hesitating, "had."

"Well,"Buffy said, "There you go! I mean, you know, you have to," she searched for words, "you have to follow your heart, Will. And that's what's important, Will."

"Why do you keep saying my name like that?"

"Like what, Will?"

"Are you freaked?"

"What?" Buffy said, "No, Will, n-" she stopped, putting herself together. "No, absolutely no to that question. I mean, Faith was bi," she winced, "and that's a totally bad example and I'm sorry, and, I know gay people," a vague look came in Buffy's eyes, "Gods, do I know gay people."

Willow looked at her friend skeptically, as Buffy shook herself, and continued,

"I'm glad you told me. What did you say to Oz?"

"I was gonna tell him, but then we started hanging out, and, you know, I could just feel everything coming back. He's Oz, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"I don't wanna hurt anyone, Buffy…"

Buffy sighed, rubbing her best friend on the back, "No matter what, Willow, somebody's gonna get hurt. And the important thing is - you just have to be honest. Or it's gonna be a lot worse."

Willow knocked on the door loudly, and Tara opened it before her.

"Hi."

Tara responded to her, "Hi." Tara stood back, indicating, and Willow came in,

"I can only stay a minute. I have class."

"Me too. I, I-I have class too."

"I just want you to know, what you saw this morning, it wasn't-"

"No, it's okay. I-I always knew if he came back-"

"We were just talking. Nothing happened."

Tara smiled, hopefully, "Oh. Really?"

Willow nodded, "But, you know, it was intense. Just talking. We have a lot to talk about," she frowned, "I kinda feel like my head's gonna explode."

Tara struggled for a moment, before speaking, "Whatever, you know, happens - I'll still be here. I'll still be your friend."

"Of course we'll be friends!" Willow exclaimed, "That's not even a question."

Tara was getting a little upset, "But I'm saying, I kn-know what Oz means to you.

"How can you," Willow said, her eyes watering up "when I'm not even sure? I mean, I - frak. I know what he meant to me. But he left, and," she hesitated, "everything changed. I changed, and then, we -" tears began to drip, "and you're a big part of that. And here comes the thing I wanted most of all and," through the tears, she forced it out, "I don't know what to do, I-I wanna know what to do, but, but I don't-"

Willow put her head down, and Tara wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Do," she stopped for a second, "do what makes you…h-happy."

After a small adventure, Oz had turned on Tara, and then Oz had been taken by the Initiative. Riley had tried to release Oz, only to be captured himself, and now, Buffy, Xander and Spike had liberated the werewolf and commando alike from the secret Fleet base under UC Sunnydale. Willow was now sitting in Oz's old van, with the werewolf in question,

"This thing looks pretty good, considering you drove it around different Colonies."

Oz didn't look at her, "Well, it broke down on Amalthea, and I traded my bass to have it fixed and garaged." He paused for a minute, "I shouldn't have come back, now. I just thought I'd changed."

"You have changed," Willow smiled, "You can stop the wolf from coming out. I saw it."

"But I couldn't look at you," he still couldn't look at her, "I mean, it turns out - the one thing that brings it out in me is you. Which falls under the heading of ironic in my book."

"It was my fault - I-I upset you."

"So, we're safe then, because nobody will ever do that again," Oz said, looking at her with a small, sardonic smile. "But," he hesitated, "you're happy?"

"I am. I can't," she stopped, "can't explain it-"

"It may be safer for both of us if you don't try. It was stupid to think you'd just be waiting."

"What are you going to do?"

"I think I'd better take off."

"When?"

"Pretty much now."

Tara sat in the darkened dorm room, as Willow opened it, holding a candle in her hand, and Tara stood up and looked at the fellow witch.

"No candles? Well, I brought one. It's extra flamey." Tara was silent, and looked down. "Tara, I have to tell you-"

"No, I-I understand." Tara said, "You have to be with the person y-you love."

Willow smiled, "I am."

"You mean-" Tara said, hopefully.

"I mean. Okay?"

"Yes."

"I feel horrible about everything I put you through, Tare. And…and I'm gonna make it up to you. Starting right now."

"Right now?" Tara said, smiling.

Willow smiled back, and nodded, and Tara blew out the candle, putting the room back in darkness.

_Present_

Willow kept indicating, "This way, people, this way. Down this way, turn left, and set yourselves up in Bay 1. Someone will come to take your names and information soon. This way."

"Excuse me, miss," an older woman said, "Is there any news from Virgon? My daughter's on Virgon, and I don't know what's happening-"

"Ma'am!" Willow interrupted, "I'm sorry, I don't have any information about what's going on. Just keep going on, to Bay 1. Someone will update you as soon as we know anything. I promise."

"Thank you, miss. Thank you."

Willow saw the man with wings on his shirt, "Excuse me, you're Captain Eya?"

"Yes, I am," the man said, "Rayko Eya."

"Great. Um, Secretary, that is, President Roslin will want to see you. She's on the main deck."

"Thank you, Miss-"

"Willow Canaan."

"Miss Canaan."

As the captain walked away, Willow heard a cry from the person on the other side of the airlock,

"WILLOW!"

Willow looked up, and saw one of the best sights she'd seen since leaving Caprica -

"XANDER!"

They ran to each other, Willow encompassing her best friend in a hug, "Oh my gods Xander you're alright and you got away from Caprica and you escaped and have you seen Buffy or Dawn or Giles and are you alright-"

Xander released her, "Whoa, slow down. We're alright."

Willow saw, and grasped, hugging Anya, thoroughly shocking both of them, "How did you get away?"

"It was Wesley."

"What?" Willow said, releasing Anya and looking back to Xander,

"Yeah, the watcher. He told us Cordelia had had a vision, and told us to get away early. We managed to get to the Saloniki spaceport, got on the ship before it took off. How's Tara?"

Xander had been more shocked than anyone else when Willow had revealed her bisexuality to the Scooby gang – he'd never noticed any signs, and he'd known her since kindergarten. She knew it had weirded him out completely, but at least he was adapting.

"She's okay. She's over, directing some other evacuees in the other ro-"

"WILLOW!"

Willow looked over, and 'eep!'ed as a 5'3" blonde projectile smashed into her, hugging her deeply, for several seconds before Willow could protest, "Ack - air air airairAIR!"

Buffy released her, "Willow! You're here! And Xander!" she said, hugging Xander fiercely as he went "Gah! Slayer strength!"

"Oh my gods," Buffy said, releasing Xander, "I can't believe you're all here. It's - amazing, I,"

Dawn, Tara and Giles had come over, and everyone was exchanging various hugs (except Giles, of course; with the exception of forced affection from Willow).

Willow came to Buffy again, and, this time, hugged her fully, tears in her eyes, "Thank the gods, you made it. You made it - you're alive."


	9. Buffy's Story V

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

"A myth. That's all it is. Those bastards put together a few historical accounts, a few discounted myths and ideas about an obscure goddess and use it to control the entire Colonial response to the subterrestrial threat. And I'll be damned if a bunch of inbred Taurons with their made up amazons will run _my_ life in any way!"  
-Margaret Walsh, Ph.D. (Caprica) on the formation of the Initiative

_Earlier_

The small convoy of Scoobies now came upon the small apartment complex in another part of Sunnydale where former Sunnydale High School librarian, and the Slayer's watcher and general research person, Rupert Giles, made his home. It wasn't a bad apartment complex, overall, and it had made for Scooby central for the last year or so, since the loss of Sunnydale High School's library and, well, any real purpose in Giles' life besides his Slayer.

Buffy, honestly, really did feel bad about basically abandoning Giles since she had started college; it's just that, with everything happening, trying to become her own person and grow outside the home, to the slaying, the Initiative, various frat parties…Buffy had really lost sight of Giles among all her other thoughts.

But now was definitely a time she needed Giles. An apocalypse. One she couldn't stop. _Nukes._he gathered herself together as they approached the complex, and banged on Giles door. They waited about a minute, before the door came open, Giles in a rather embarrassing (had Buffy been paying attention to anything but the imminent apocalypse) set of pajamas. Dawn stifled a laugh, even.

"What is it, Buffy? What is this?" he said, seeing everyone else around her.

Buffy tried to put it in the simplest, non-Caprican, non-Valley Girl manner she possibly could without possibly devolving to a Sagittaron level of education – "Apocalypse. Warning. Cordelia. Not slayable. Nukes. Pack."

It took Giles a few seconds to process what she had said, but he immediately went back in. The rest of the Scoobies – Buffy, Riley, Dawn, and Buffy's mom – followed him into the apartment. After Giles had dressed in something vaguely resembling clothing and packed a bare minimum, including his absolute smallest number of ancient texts – twelve – he asked,

"What is the plan, Buffy?"

"Riley and I discussed it on the way over, Giles," Buffy said. Riley interrupted her,

"The Initiative was evacuated pretty quick after the Deucalion mess," Riley said, "I know they left a few things down there so we could pretend nothing happened, and moving some of the heavy equipment requires a little too much heavy lifting to get rid of so fast."

Riley breathed before continuing, "There should be at least a couple raptors – military space shuttles – left in the Initiative, with their launch keys. If we can get there, we can fly right out of Sunnydale and off Caprica. 'Course, if there isn't an apocalypse, they'll nail all of us for theft of military property."

Rupert Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them, "Well, it does sound like our best option if we need to get out of Sunnydale quickly. After all, we have-"

Suddenly, Buffy tensed to the sound of a very distant explosion – one that, apparently, no one else heard. She ignored Giles as she went over to the audio wireless, clicking it on quickly, as it came out

_"-cifica, Universal, Rycon, Cerberus, Ulysses and Atlas have been confirmed destroyed over the planet, and we've had reports of Cylon basestars throughout Caprican space. We're going live to Ed Gazni in Caprica City for the story there."_

They all approached, eyes widening, staring at the wireless as another voice came through the speakers,

_"Esther, there is utter chaos here in Caprica City! Cylon fighters are flying over the city without challenge and there is a mass jam of cars trying to get out of the city immediately – (bleep), more like yesterday! I'm, holy (bleep)! I don't know what you're seeing, but I could see a cloud hitting to the west, toward the government section of the city. In this situation, one must ask – where are the Fleet? They're supposed to protect us! Where is the President! Where is the-"_

Suddenly a massive whine came down on the wireless, forcing them all to cover their ears for a few seconds before static replaced it on the wireless. Buffy took the wireless, threw it across the room, and hefted a sword,

"Let's get out of here."

_Present_

As they now sat on the main deck of the _Colonial One_, they exchanged stories of their last hours. Xander and Anya's incredibly lucky break with the _Malafide_ in Saloniki, Willow and Tara's simply being in the right place at the right time on the newly christened _Colonial One_, and, of course, Buffy, Dawn and Giles' daring escape from Sunnydale itself on an Initiative raptor.

While they told the stories in a rather light tone, a sense of sadness – no, depression – had descended upon the Scooby gang. Indeed, the sense had fallen upon everyone on the ship. Willow continued to leave and come back, working with the woman, who Buffy had vaguely realized was now the President. Gods, how things could change quickly.

Buffy was now in a relatively abandoned part of the craft, near the cockpit, staring out the windows into the blackness of space and the botanical cruisers and other ships that floated outside _Colonial One_.

Buffy could hear (supernatural hearing really can come in handy, after all) the long, winded tones of Rupert Giles describe, in great detail, the later parts of their escape from Sunnydale through the Initiative base. Dawn had, uncharacteristically, barely spoken since their arrival at _Colonial One_, contenting herself with frequent hugs to Xander, Willow and Tara, which all three had provided liberally.

"Hey, Buff."

Buffy looked back, and it was Xander standing there, a half-smile now on his features.

"So, looking at space? I find looking at space to be a bit too spacey for me."

Buffy smirked slightly as she 'hit' her friend's arm, "That was terrible, even for you."

"Eh, you hit and you miss. Well, except you. You hit and you hit and you hit and…that's not really the point, now, is it?"

Buffy gave a small, genuine smile, her eyes joining her mouth for the first time since…gods, was Dawn's birthday only yesterday? It had felt like so much longer.

"There's the Slayer we know and love."

Buffy turned back away from her friend, her face going blank as she looked out the window again, "It's hard."

"I know."

The simplicity of Xander's answer, the reassurance in his voice, at least in this moment, made Buffy wipe a tear from one of her eyes, turn around, and embrace him fully, though softly, not straining his lungs with her 'excessive' Slayer strength. She spoke quietly, so only Xander could hear her, and even then, just barely, "How am I supposed to defend humans when they destroy themselves?"

Xander just returned the hug, rubbing his friend's back fraternally, "I dunno, Buff. But, they're not all gone. You can still do…what you can."

Buffy opened her eyes, looking up at her Xander-shaped friend, and smiled slightly, before she frowned. Xander noticed the change in her readiness, and asked, "What is it?"

Buffy strained her hearing to hear the words being exchanged in the cockpit –

"Well, I just thought you should know. That girl you met earlier, Cammy – her ship can't make the jump."

Silence for seconds,

"Thank you."

"Set ESB trajectory."

_"_Colonial One, _for gods' sake, you can't just leave us here!"_

"Set."

"Colonial One, _this is Picon 36. I can't believe you want us to leave these people behind!"_

"Cycle."

_"At least tell us where you're going! We'll follow at sublight!"_

"No. If they're captured, then the Cylons know too."

_"Please!"_

_"I've got fifty people aboard! _Colonial One_, do you copy this?"_

"Spinning up FTL drive now."

_"Don't leave us here! Sweet humanity, we don't have any weapons!"_

"All ships, prepare to jump on our mark. Five,"

_"_Colonial One, _please respond!"_

"Four,"

_"May the Lords of Kobol protect those souls we leave behind."_

"Three,"

_"I've got dradis contact. Inbound targets, headed this way!"_

Buffy closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the stress of faster than light travel.

"Two,"

_"I see them too, are they Colonial?"_

"One,"

_"Oh my gods, they're Cylons!"_

Buffy squeezed Xander harder as he held the blonde Slayer protectively.

"Mark."

_"I HOPE YOU PEOPLE ROT IN HELL FOR THIS!"_

After _Colonial One_ jumped, the floodgates of Buffy's eyes were let loose, and she cried into Xander's chest.


	10. Buffy's Story VI

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

The Slayer line was never meant to exist with more than one at a time. I recommend strict separation – separate Colonies entirely, preferably - between Miss Young and Miss Summer (and any successors) at all times.  
-Report by Lena Brijesha to Quentin Travers. Lost in bureaucracy between Libran and Tauron.

_A year ago_

"How is she?"

Giles' voice filled the empty hallway of the Sunnydale's primary hospital as he and the gang came toward Angel, sitting alone, crouched outside the hospital room containing the two Slayers – light and dark, short and tall, Caprican valley girl and Gemenese street kid.

"She's fine," Angel said, standing up and facing the gathered gang. "She's asleep."

It was clear who Giles had been asking about; and Angel wasn't even thinking about the other one.

Oz looked at Angel, a look of confusion on his face, "Well, you seem alright too?"

Angel wrapped his arms around himself, looking down guiltily, "Yeah."

"What happened?" Xander asked, carefully trying to keep his own suspicions from bursting forward in anger.

Willow spoke, not letting Angel speak, "When we left her she was fine, did-"

"What about Faith?" Dawn's leveled voice interrupted, almost without emotion.

"Faith's out of the picture," Angel said, quickly, "Buffy put her in a coma."

Xander took a deep breath, "And?"

Angel shook, unwillingly, and wouldn't meet their eyes as he spoke hesitantly, "Buffy cured me. She made me, made me-"

"You fed off her." Giles' measured Tauron tones managed to fit more anger and resentment than would seem possible from even an entire Colony.

Angel looked up at him, finally meeting his eyes, and took a deep breath. His Aerilon brogue was much stronger than usual, "Yes."

"How much?" Giles said, accusingly, as Xander swallowed hard, and looked away from Angel, his eyes filled with hatred.

"She's gonna be fine," Angel said, a little defensively, though still with remorse.

"She won't be a vampire?" Willow asked, looking up at Angel as Oz moved over to Dawn, his hand calming a seething storm that clearly building in Buffy's younger sister. Dawn turned her head, looking over into the hospital room, back and forth between the two Slayers, as Angel responded –

"No, no, she didn't feed off me."

Xander shook his head, meeting the vampire in the eye, "Well, it's just good to know that when the chips are down and things look grim, you'll feed off the girl who _LOVES_ you to save you own _ass_."

Angel said nothing, looking down again guiltily, as Willow, Giles, Oz and Xander's glares bored into him with various levels of disdain. He wasn't even able to look at Dawn.

"You'd better go, Angel," Giles said, curtly, "We'll watch over her."

Angel began to refuse, "No, I don't want to-"

Giles interrupted, his voice hardened, "The sun will be up soon." There was a hint of threat in his words.

Angel looked from the gang to Buffy, and then back to the gang. He nodded, looking down and, without a word, stalked from the hallway, leaving the Scoobies alone in the corridor.

_The room is full. The other Slayer's apartment. She walks through the room, her arms crossed before her, looking at the cardboard boxes stacked everywhere. A cat jumps onto the bed._

_You're making it?_

_Someone's gotta._

_Who's going to look after him?_

_It's a she, the other corrects. And aren't these thing supposed to take care of themselves?_

_The other walks up behind her, stopping just before touching the elder one._

_She looks at her, and the other turns away, crossing around it._

_Higher powers guiding us?_

_I'm pretty sure that's not what I meant._

_She's yours?_

_Probably not. But always yours._

_She looks down, there's something I'm supposed to be doing._

_Oh yeah, she says, a long way to go. Little Miss Muffet counting down from four, three, zero._

_A flash. Redness. One eye. A tall blonde. A mushroom._

_Great. Riddles._

_Sorry. It's my head. The other stands in front of the broken window, looking out, A lot of new stuff._

_She smiles at her opposite, fingering the cat. She looks at the cat. A flash of blue eyes, a green glow._

_They are never gonna fix this, are they, the other asks her elder._

_What about you? She is concerned for the younger one. Even after that._

_Scar tissue, she says, turning around, gesturing at her head, it fades. It all fades._

_What about you? She looks down to the bloody knife in the palm of her hand, and looks back up into the wound bleeding profusely, as its owner talks_

_You want to know the deal? She continues, human weakness never goes away. Not even his._

_Is this your mind or mine? She smiles._

_She laughs. Beats the frak outta me._

_She also laughs, looking down. The other walks back to her, getting toward that time._

_Weapons laid out on the table, next to her. How are you going to fit all this stuff?_

_Not gonna, she smirks, it's yours._

_I can't use all of this!_

_Just take what you need. She puts up her hand, touching the blonde's cheek softly. You ready?_

_I don't know._

_You will be. She touches the cat, picking it up and rubbing its stomach with her underhand. I'm sorry._

_It's okay._

_She puts the cat down, and it leaps to the floor. It looks up at the dark, and back to the light, and follows the blonde._

_She walks to the doorway, and the other calls out to her._

_Be back before dawn._

_Present_

Buffy looked up the corridor of the old _Columbia_-class Battlestar, the old relic of the Cylon War, being readied by her crew for action. There were crew – officers and enlisted – going back and forth through the ship. She looked to her sister, up a little ways, touching the ship's bulkhead. Feeling it.

They were with Tara and Willow, who were standing together, holding one another for comfort. Buffy regarded her best friend. Honestly, the revelation of Tara had shocked Buffy completely. Not to the extent that they did Xander, but they had still shocked her. Buffy had never even suspected that Willow liked girls. But, watching them, Buffy realized why Willow had chosen Tara. They fit together magnificently, being able to instinctively feel what the other was on an instant.

Buffy and Dawn had tagged along, a little illicitly, with Willow and Tara onto the ship. Willow and Tara had managed to get on because Tara was related to someone, or, something about the President wanting Willow with them. Buffy had, as usual, not really been paying any attention. But, why should she? It wasn't really that important _why_ they were able to get onto the Battlestar. It was just something in her, that innate sense of the Slayer, that made her feel that she _needed_ to be on the Battlestar _Galactica_.

Funny, that. Buffy had never even considered being military. Even before the Initiative fiasco. Even before she had been the Slayer.

The doors were pretty soundproof. But not to the point that they could hide anything from the Slayer. Her sensitive hearing could pick up the discussion in the next room.

"We are in the middle of repairing and rearming this ship. We can't afford to lose a single man off the line to start caring for refugees," said a rough, Aerilon man's accent from inside the room. It reminded Buffy, ever so slightly, of Angel.

"We have fifty thousand people out there," came the more measured tones of a Caprican. "Some of them are hurt. Our priority has to be caring for refugees."

"My priority is preparing this ship for combat," came the response. "In case you haven't heard, there's a war on."

"Colonel, the war is over. We lost."

"We'll see about that."

"Oh, yes, we will. In the meantime, however, as President of the Colonies, I'm giving you a direct order to provide-"

"You don't give orders on-"

"-souls and equipment-"

"-this ship!"

"Hold on, Colonel!" a third voice interrupted both of them. "At least give us a couple disaster pods, hmm?"

"Us?"

"Sir, we have fifty thousand people out there. Fifty thousand. Some of them are sick, some are wounded. Two disaster pods, Colonel. You can do that."

He paused. "Because you're the old man's son, and because he's gonna be so damn happy you and your cousin are alive. Okay, two pods. But no personnel. You get them yourselves, and you distribute them yourselves. And you are all off this ship before we jump back. Lee, you report to the flight deck. You're senior pilot now, Captain."

"Yes, sir."

Buffy walked quickly toward the sickbay with Tara. Dawn had stuck to Willow and, honestly, Buffy had been alone with Dawn for so long, she needed at least a short break. Tara was anxious, since she'd heard the rumor that her uncle had returned from his being lost somewhere in the Ragnar Anchorage. As they approached, Buffy's superhuman hearing could hear Colonel Tigh, the Aerilon from before, and the gruff tones of, apparently, Tara's uncle, talking.

"-this just gets worse and worse. Now the Cylons look like us."

"Down to our blood."

Buffy tempered the shock that would have appeared on her face with a measure of strength from the spirit of the Slayer. Well, it was just something new to be slayed.

"You realize what this means? They could be anywhere. Anyone."

"I've had time to think about it."

"So what do we do?"

There was a pause, "I don't know. How we doing on warheads?"

"Magazine two is secure. Three and four within the hour. Something else – Lee and Tara are alive."

Any response Commander Adama had intended to make was cut off with Tara's entrance to the sickbay, where she ran to him, with a cry of "Uncle Bill!"

He stood up, taking her hug quickly and in silence, though even Buffy could see the affection in Adama's stance and in his eyes.

After a long hug, Tara released him, and Adama and Tigh looked up to the short blonde with her. Before the question could be formed on his lips, Tara answered it.

"That's Buffy Summer. One of Willow's friends."

The Slayer was emotionless, empty. It was one of her defense mechanisms in a situation like this, but she acknowledged Tara's uncle, with a short nod.

Adama looked at Buffy inscrutably for a few seconds, before nodding almost imperceptibly back at her. His eyes were what drew Buffy's attention. While they were the same eyes as Tara, Buffy saw a stark contrast in the eyes of her uncle – William Adama's eyes were those of a veteran. Someone who had seen things no person should ever need to see, and too much. And, at that moment, Buffy was sure he detected the same thing from her. Buffy remained silent as she looked around while a short conversation, which Buffy didn't really pay attention to, took place between uncle and niece. When they had finished, with a last long look to Commander Adama's strong eyes, Buffy and Tara left him.


	11. Buffy's Story VII

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

Who the hell authorized this clusterfrak?  
-Richard Adar, President of the Twelve Colonies, on the Initiative

_Earlier_

Buffy swung her sword, neatly decapitating a hechler demon before bringing Mr. Pointy to bear with her left hand into the heart of a charging vampire. Riley and Giles were holding their own demons as they held the front with Buffy, while Spike was loudly holding the rear all on his own (with a bit of support from Dawn's crossbow). It had been lucky, sort of, that Spike had heard the news earlier, and had sought out the Slayer and company, knowing they'd have a "way off this buggered planet."

It went against her better instincts, but the chipped Spike was incredibly useful when fighting demons.

Unfortunately, in sealing the Initiative, the Colonial Fleet had sealed in, as far as Buffy could tell, hundreds of various demons, who were now organizing to get out - something generally unheard of among so many different species of demon. Not to mention other demons who had heard the news of Cylons, and were looking for anyplace of an underground persuasion to hide from nuclear weapons.

There had been few humans about before they got to the campus of the University of Caprica in Sunnydale. Something about sleeping at night.

Riley slowly led the group of Scoobies through the Initiative toward where the shuttles were. Hopefully, they'd get there soon enough, before Sunnydale ended up a bit hotter than its name implied.

"Buffy!" he cried, warning her of a fakirel demon coming from behind her he swung up to block, which, through a bit of coordination, was quickly vanquished.

Clearly, Mom was totally overwhelmed. She had, with the exception of the MOO incident, pretty much stayed on the sidelines of the slaying. She'd tried to shield Dawnie from that world, too, but Dawn had been a freshman the year Hellmouth High went all explody - and hadn't exactly been absent that day.

Soon, they were actually moving pretty quickly through the Initiative's tunnels, most of the demons actually being rather easily dealt with, until they started getting past the larger cells - or, rather, where they used to be - in the complex.

A sarenta demon is one native to Caprica. They're amphibimas, Buffy remembered, a sea monster that can live on land. Ugh. It was a simple demon - killed by normal weapons and a simple beheading. That is, if you could get past the claws. And get to all three of its heads. And this particular sarenta demon was about twice Buffy's size. She'd fought one the first year in Sunnydale, so she wasn't especially worried about this one.

Riley, Buffy and Giles went right to it, blocking its' thick claws with their swords while they tried to defeat it. In the open, Buffy probably could have taken it out relatively easily. She had the advantages of strength and jumping ability. But, in the crowded underground tunnels, where its hands were able to block most routes to its vital parts, it became a much bigger problem.

It flailed, back and forth, bringing down parts of the tunnel as it reeled back in pain from the constant attacks from the Scoobies, but they'd eventually gotten to it. Two heads down, one to go. But now, it was really flailing, and, in a last ditch attempt at escape, attempted to bring its wings (Did she mention the wings?) up in an attempt to get over them.

It failed, Buffy striking upward with her sword into the last neck, but, unfortunately, while the thing was dead, its momentum wasn't, and it smashed into a support structure, bringing it down. Dawn screamed as Buffy ran, dragging her away from the falling beam, very narrowly saving her sister from certain death.

In the quiet afterward, Dawn clung to Buffy's protection in a way that was, if nothing else, entirely unnatural for a teenage little sister (that is, if you can really call someone taller than you your "little" sister).

It was only a few seconds later that Giles realized something, bringing it to the forefront.

"Where's Joyce?"

Buffy quickly jumped up, bringing her sister with her as she went to the support, and yelled out,

"Mom? Mom!"

"I'm here, honey!" Thank the gods.

"Are you okay, mom?" Buffy yelled back, now looking for some way she could get through the support beam, and the wall and ceiling which had fallen through between them and her mother.

"Just fine! Thanks for the concern, Slayer!" Spike yelled back, to Buffy's annoyance.

"Yes, we're both fine!" her mother called back through the rubble.

"Spike!" Riley called, through, "There's another way to the shuttles! Go back to the last intersection, and make a left. It's longer, but you'll get there!"

"Got it! We'll get there!" he yelled back, and Buffy could just barely hear them standing on the other side.

"Go, Buffy!" her mother yelled back, "We'll be fine!"

Buffy didn't want to, but there was nothing that could be done now but plunge forward. Plunge? Does that even make sense?

Whatever.

They made their way through the tunnels which, after the sarenta, were pretty empty. The sarenta'd probably killed them all off. So it was mostly a quiet walk until they got to the shuttle room.

Buffy could see two shuttles in the room, and Riley quickly said,

"You three, get on one of the raptors. I'll get the door open."

Buffy nodded her consent, and the three of them made their way toward the . Buffy could hear quiet signs of combat in the distance, knowing that Spike and her mom were coming up another hallway.

As the three of them walked, cautiously, into the room as Riley went into a nearby control room. But, before long, they were all surprised when a tentacle leapt up from the floor. It smashed into Giles, throwing him across the room and knocking his head against the wall (again) as another tentacle grabbed Dawn's ankle.

Dawn screamed as she dropped her crossbow, being dragged toward a pit at the edge of the shuttle room. Buffy rushed up, brandishing her sword as she cut at the tentacle, once, twice, three times before it tore through, letting Dawn escape. She cut back at another tentacle that came for her, severing it in one cut as she went to the nearest raptor, pushed the "Open" button, and all but threw Dawn in. She ran across the room, deflecting and cutting off two more tentacles as she grabbed Giles, hefting him over her shoulder and running back, fighting the tentacle-demon one handed, to the raptor with Dawn, putting him down.

As she turned back, she saw Riley furiously typing through the glass between the control room and the shuttle room. He looked up after pushing a button, and, thankfully, when Buffy looked up, too, the doors were opening above them. But, as Buffy looked down, Riley had been grabbed from behind by a vampire, and was being fed upon. When Buffy ran out to assist, a tentacle knocked her sword from her hand, throwing her back into the raptor, as another tentacle started to snake into the shuttle.

Buffy quickly pushed a button, closing the raptor's door onto the tentacle, cutting the part inside off the part outside. The part vaporized as Buffy turned back, looking to the controls and, purely on instinct, began pushing buttons. Luckily, they managed to turn the thing on and activate the engines, and, in doing so, immediately lifted up off the ground, going straight up and out of the shuttle room, seeing herself now just outside UC Sunnydale's campus, a small bit into the Sunnydale desert that met the edge of the small town.

She turned the controls up, and began flying away. A few seconds later, an icon appeared on the thing that shows where other ships are. Dredik? Anyway, it was the other raptor. She flew upward, and away, when suddenly there was a loud sounding alarm. Dawn suddenly called out,

"Radiological alarm! Nukes incoming!"

Buffy didn't give a second's thought to how Dawn could possibly read this crap and immediately turned away, flying straight up for space as the sudden glow of a nuclear explosion filled the vision from the direction of Sunnydale proper. She pushed the raptor to full throttle and went at full speed upward, feeling the rumbling of the explosion starting to affect their rear as she determinedly flew upward until it stopped, and all that fille her vision was black.

She would never know when the other raptor had disappeared from the dredik.

_Present_

Well, that was that. They were gone from Cyrannus. No more Colonies to worry about.

Hell, who was she kidding? Now they had a hundred thousand people in a fleet to worry about, all of whom hated each other. And, with her luck, half of them were demons that needed slaying.

She simply couldn't do it. How was she supposed to help people like this? She didn't know how to fly - except some lucky flying right out of Sunnydale. She didn't know how she could get around the fleet to slay. And, gods, she was tired. How could she take this? How was _anyone_ taking this? People were dead. Twenty _billion_ people were dead. It was an apocalypse, and Buffy hadn't been able to do a thing about it. She hadn't been able to save anyone.

Not even her own boyfriend. Not even her own _mother_.

"Buffy?"

Buffy turned to the voice of her best friend, giving a fake smile.

"Willow."

"How're you doing?" Willow asked, concerned.

"Okay, I guess," Buffy said, blinking back tears.

Willow gave Buffy the resolve face for several seconds before Buffy relented,

"Okay, then. Not okay. Sad," she said, turning to look at the empty space outside of _Colonial One_, "Miserable."

"Buffy," Willow said, filling the one word with far more than she usually was able to into entire babbles - which, for Willow, was saying something.

"I mean, gods," Buffy said, continuing, "What am I supposed to do now? I don't know how to do anything in space. I've left Caprica twice in my life, and last time I was twelve!"

"Th-there are other things," Willow said, protesting, "I- I mean you can do lots of things. I mean- oh! You took freshman psychology!"

Buffy looked up at Willow, somewhat bemused despite a few tears still glistening on her face.

"Okay, that's not much," Willow conceded. "But, Buffy, you can't do this. We'll make it. It'll be okay. Did you hear what Commander Adama said? Earth!"

"With our luck it's overrun by demons," Buffy said, pessimistically.

"C'mon, Buff," Willow said, taking Buffy into a hug, "It'll be alright. We'll be alright."

Buffy didn't concede the point, but surrendered herself into the wonderful Willow-hug for a few seconds, letting everything flee from her mind as she embraced her best friend.

"Ms. Canaan?" a voice came, as they released the hug.

"What is it, Keikeya?" Willow asked.

"The President wants to see you for a minute."

Willow shot an apologetic look at Buffy, which she waved away with a nod, and a slight smile, and Willow followed the man out of the room.

Buffy turned away, quietly standing in one of the few private places left on this crowded ship, and took something out of her pocket. She examined Mr. Pointy with her hands, closing her eyes as she quietly simply felt the feel of the Sagittaron oak in her hand, carved with care by her first successor, and quietly looked upward.

"Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer," Buffy began, almost in a whisper, "Protect those souls who are lost, and guide me now to protect her... to protect Dawn, in this apocalypse. Goddess Calyntha, patron of Slayers, help me now to find my place. And, whatever her crimes, guide the soul of your anointed Faith Liathain into Elysion, so she may have in death what failed her in life. So say we all."


	12. Beginnings and Endings

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, nor do I own _Battlestar Galactica_. They are owned by Joss Whedon and Ronald D. Moore respectively. I merely play with their toys while they're away. Also, this series entirely ignores anything not directly mentioned in _Battlestar Galactica_, so ignore anything from _Caprica_. This was conceived before that, so I'm not letting it hamper my creativity.**

And so it took once again human flesh, so as has happened before, and so as shall happen again in times to come, as is written, as is being written, and as will be written again. It became she, she was given form, family, protection. None recalled a time without her, and her protection became paramount among all of us in Koboldaemmerung.  
-Disputed fragment of the Cordelian Writings, from the Colonization Era

_Less than a day ago_

The room shook. The ferocity of the Beast. Dozens of monks had already fallen to its terrible attacks.

Charlton quickly bowed his head in a prayer for his brothers and sisters who must have perished in the last strike. They were giving their lives for the safety of this most holy article of the gods. They had their place. And Charlton had his.

He retrieved the focusing crystal from its hiding place, drawing it up into his arms and running.

"Brother Charlton! Get to the main chamber! Quickly!" barked an order from the order's warrior sergeant.

"Yes, Brother Anicetus!" he said, not losing a stride as he ran, though hearing the loud screaming of another warrior - his beloved, Sister Dina. He pushed that thought from his mind. Nothing could distract him, now, or her death would be in vain.

He rushed into the main antechamber, apparently the last, nodding to Brother Earle, one of the final guards. He immediately gave the order to the warriors outside to seal the door.

Sister Mahine was standing at the head of the room as the other ten monks quickly painted out a ritual image of the phoenix on the floor, placing a variety of sacred articles around it as the building once again shook from the fierce attacks of the Beast. Had he ever left this hidden monastery moon, Brother Charlton would have noted the image's resemblance to the Seal of the Twelve Colonies.

Sister Mahine, pressing several buttons opened a door, and a bright green light filled the room. She turned back around, rushing to the center.

"It'll have to be close enough. We are out of time."

At her words, Charlton put the focusing crystal in the center of the still wet ritual circle, where it belonged, and returned to his place so they all sat in a circle around it, twelve circling the ritual image. They joined hands, and Sister Mahine began to speak, her voice filling with the authority of the ancient, ritual magics they were now invoking.

"Most holy gods, rulers of Olympus and the entire Universe," began Sister Mahine, "its Heavens and its Underworlds, listen to our invocations! Lords of Kobol, hear our prayer."

More shaking. The sounds of battle.

"Benevolent Asclepius," cried the first monk, Brother Mukesha, "Lord of Healing, form it from the dominion of Hecate to your own dominion, and preserve it as you preserve all your children."

"Veiovis nos audi!" Charlton cried out, with the rest of the monks under Sister Mahine. The next monk continued,

"Powerful Hades," called out Sister Julienne, "Lord of Elysion, of Erebus and of Tartarus, accept it not into your realms, but reject it utterly until its safety is sure."

"Pluto nos audi!"

"Majestic Hera," began Brother Balendin, "Lord of the Hearth, bring it to a new home with the rest of mankind."

"Iuno nos audi!"

"Great Poseidon," spoke Sister Anouk, "Lord of the Void, guide it safely to its destination."

"Neptune nos audi!"

"Skilled Hephaestus," said Brother Jon, "Lord of the Forge, deliver it the tools it needs to survive."

"Vulcan nos audi!"

"Virgin Artemis," cried Brother Elwud, "Lord of the Hunt, let it not know need nor want."

"Diana nos audi!"

The building shook again, and the signs of battle grew louder, but they could not be dissuaded from their purpose.

"Blessed Demeter," called out Brother Naum, "Lord of the Seasons, make its way pleasant as it walks the worlds."

"Ceres nos audi!"

"Strong Ares," began Brother Odmun, "Lord of War, make your servants protect it in the dark times."

"Mars nos avdi!"

"Beautiful Aphrodite," spoke Sister Chidigwu, "Lord of Love, make it joyful as you can."

"Vene nos audi!"

"Holy Apollo," said Sister Caleigh, "Lord of Arts, give it the qualities which you yourself desire."

"Phoebe nos audi!"

"Enlightened Eos," cried Sister Lisbet, "Lord of Light, grant it your name as a standard to guide it."

"Aurora nos audi!"

Sister Mahine now spoke, finishing the twelve chants, "Mighty Zeus, Lord of Heaven and King of the gods, grant it divine protection in troubled times!"

"Iupiter nos audi! Sic narramus omnes!"

"So say we all," Mahine said, looking upwards as the green light filled the room, concentrating into the crystal.

Mahine closed her eyes as the magic filled the room once more, and she began the next chant.

"Calyntha, Divine Protector, goddess of the Chosen, hear me, hear us, grant our request."

"Spirit of Kelara," the other eleven monks spoke in perfect unity, the magic coursing through them all, "First of the Ones, do not ignore our plea."

"Bring it into your arms, and love it with fraternity," Sister Mahine spoke, "Protect it as you would your kin, for it shall be your kin. As was, as is, and as will be."

"For all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again."

"Hold it dear as a companion, Kelara," she said, "as your closest beloved."

"For as is written," the monks spoke, "So the Key shall take flesh in the end of Kobol."

"As it was then, as it is today and forever."

"So say we all."

"And say we again?"

"So say we all!"

As a burst could be felt upon the door to the chamber, Mahine looked up, a fire in her eyes.

"And thus we die that it may live! We stand together, as one, before the gods, for the sake of all mankind!"

"So as was written, and so shall be written again."

"Embrace eternity!"

_In that moment, they saw the visions of Elysion as they fell to the ground. Their life force filled the room and, in a split second, the crystal was gone. When the Beast entered, only seconds later, they found nothing but corpses. And at that moment..._

"Dawn!"

Dawn pulled on the rest of her second sock, before beginning to pull on her shoe.

"Dawn! Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'll be right down, mom!" she called back, as she tied the first shoe, and then the second one. She jumped up, going over to her jewelry box. She opened it, looking through as she hummed a song to herself.

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me," she sang quietly as she looked through the necklaces, while one caught her attention. A small, golden idol on a chain, decorated with tiny jade elements, which seemed to call out to her, almost glowing. She took it up, and, unfastening it, put it around her neck as she continued the song, "Happy birthday, dear Dawnie, happy birthday to me!"

"Dawn! We're going to be late to meet Buffy at the restaurant!"

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" Dawn said, rolling her eyes. She quickly kissed the small image of her namesake deity in respect as she bolted from her bedroom and down the stairs.

_Present_

"We have to get out of this storm. The radiation affects our silica relays."

"Where did they go?"

"I don't know. They were prepared for a big jump."

"We can't let them go."

"If we do, they'll return one day and take revenge."

"It's in their nature."

"They have no choice."

"It may take several decades to track them down."

"Summer escaped with them; we have no time to lose, she must have it."

"Could it not be with Liathain?"

"Liathain is dead; she was imprisoned in Saloniki."

"A new Slayer will then be called. Find her, turn her against her sister with the escapees."

"We still need to find it; it must be with them. Perhaps an agent could guide us to their fleet."

"Don't worry. We'll find them."

"We had better, or we risk total annihilation."

"The Key is the link. The link must be severed. Such is the will of God."

"By your command."

Light years away, on _Colonial One_, cuddled into the arms of a sleeping Tara, Dawn Summer shivered with a fear, quiet and nameless, as she subconsciously held the idol on her neck, silently whispering half-remembered mantras and poetry as she fruitlessly sought a feeling of safety from her long-forgotten gods.


End file.
